THE 

GROWING 

CHRrSTIAH 


WILLIAM  E. 
BIEDERWOLF 


^ 

^ 


5, ^^^3 
LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,   N.  J. 

Presented  by 

c)We  CXuVV\or, 

^  BV  4501  .B53  1903 
BH  Biederwolf,  William  E.  1867 
1939. 
The  growing  Christian 


THE    GROWING  CHEISTIAN 


WORKS  BY 

W.  E.  BIEDERWOLF 

Evangelism 

Its  Justification,  Its  Operation,  Its  Value. 

$1.75 
Dr.  Biederwolf's  calm,  measured  presenta- 
tion of  the  methods  best  calculated  to 
secure  results — Among  the  phrases  dis- 
cussed are :  The  Philosophy  of  Revival;  The 
Preacher  and  His  Message;  Pastoral  Evan- 
gelism ;  The  Union  Evangelistic  Campaign ; 
Individual  Evangelism,  etc.,  etc. 

Hoiv  Can  God  Answer  Prayer? 

$1.00 
A    devout    and    exceedingly    helpful    and 
thorough  discussion  of  a  great  theme. 

The  Growing  Christian; 

or,  the  Development  of  the  Spiritual  Life. 

75  cents 
Deals  with  the  implanted  life  of  God  in  the 
soul,  the  conditions  of  growth  and  decay, 
the  signs  of  arrested  development,  and  the 
type  of  growth  as  presented  by  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  his  instructions  to  the  Ephesian 
Church. 

A  Help  to  the  Study  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  ^jQQ 

A  careful  and  diligent  study  of  the  Scripture 
teaching  as  to  the  personality,  deity,  sealing, 
anointing,  communion,  fruits,  baptism,  fill- 
ing, emblems  and  resistance  of  the  Spirit. 


THE 

GROWII^G   OHRISTIAE" 


OR, 


tETlje  SDebelopment  of  t^ie  Spiritual  llife 


REV.  WILLIAM  EDWARD  BIEDERWOLF 

AUTHOB  OF  "A  HELP  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT," 


X 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 

London      and       Edinburgh 


COPYRIGHT,  1903 

BY 

THE  WINONA  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


pntau 

The  following  addresses  were  delivered  at 
the  Winona  Lake,  Benton  Harbor  (Mich.), 
Montreat  (N.  C),  and  other  Bible  Conferences 
during  the  seasons  of  1902  and  1903.  They 
are  sent  out  at  the  request  of  many  who 
heard  them  and  with  the  writer's  prayer  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  may  use  them  to  glorify  Christ. 
If  you,  my  dear  reader,  only  see  Him  more 
clearly  and  love  Him  more  dearly  because  you 
have  seen  these  pages  it  will  have  paid  a  thou- 
sand fold  for  the  labor  of  producing  them. 

W.  E.  B. 

MONTICELLO,  liTD. 


TO 

WHOSE   PKATERS   GAVE   HER   BOY   TO    GOD 

WHOSE   LOSTG,    UNTIRING   DEVOTION 

MADE     POSSIBLE     HIS    PREPARATION     FOR    THE 

GOSPEL   MINISTRY, 

THIS   LITTLE    VOLUME 

IS   AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED. 


There  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees  named  Nicode- 
mus,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews.  The  same  came  to  Him  by 
night  and  said  unto  Him,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou 
art  a  teacher  come  from  God :  for  no  man  can  do 
these  miracles,  except  God  be  with  him.  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  him,  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  from  above  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God.  Nicodemus  saith  unto 
Him,  How  can  a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?  can 
he  enter  the  second  time  into  his  mother's  womb 
and  be  born?  Jesus  answered,  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ;  and  that 
which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.  Marvel  not  that 
I  said  unto  thee,  ye  must  be  born  from  above.— 
Saint  John's  Gospel,  Chapter  Three. 


Contents! 

PAGK 

The  Life  Implanted     . 

.       9 

How  TO  Grow    .... 

29 

How  Not  to  Grow 

.     49 

Arrested  Development     . 

67 

The  Signs  of  Growth 

.     87 

The  Type  of  Growth 

.      107 

^''Biit  grow  in  grace  and  the  knowledge  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.'''' 

2  Peter  3: 18. 


Cl)e  (l^rotptng  CJjrtsttan 


or. 


t^t  SDebelopmmt  of  tlie  ^pititml  tlife 


THE  LIFE  IMPLANTED 
*'Ye  must  be  born  from  above." — John  3:7. 

ICOUKT  it  the  worthiest  ambition  of  the 
human  soul — the  desire   to   increase   its 
capacity  for  God;  to  grow,  and  in  growing 
to  become  more  like  God. 

Paul  in  writing  to  the  Thessalonians  said, 
"We  beseech  you,  brethren,  that  ye  increase 
more  and  more."  If  you  could  translate  that 
utterance  out  of  the  sphere  in  which  it  has  its 
reference  as  uttered  by  Paul  into  any  other 
sphere  of  life,  you  would  find  it  the  very  thing 
that  every  man  is  trying  to  do.  If  a  man  has 
riches  he  wPvUts  more ;  if  he  has  knowledge  the 
very  having  it  creates  a  thirst  to  have  more ;  if 
he  has  skill  he  yearns  to  be  still  more  accurate ; 
if  he  is  famous  he  would  add  another  to  his 
list  of  triumphs.  But  I  think  the  saddest 
thing  in  the  world  is  the  nominal  child  of  God 
altogether  anxious  about  such  increase  and 
almost  if  not  altogether  indifferent  about  that 
spiritual  increase  which  constitutes  the  true 
9 


Ube  (Growing  Cbttstian 


wealth  of  this  life  and  the  sole  wealth  of  the 
life  to  come. 

When  a  man  dies  it  is  usually  asked,  "How 
much  was  he  worth?"  and  the  answer  comes  in 
dollars.  But  that's  a  false  estimate.  Neither 
in  life  nor  in  death  will  you  or  I  be  worth  any 
more  than  the  measure  of  our  growth  in  grace. 
Dear  child,  you  are  looking  for  success;  you 
have  a  hunger  for  knowledge;  possibly  a  long- 
ing for  wealth;  bat  when  the  ocean  of  eternity 
shall  break  upon  these  sands  of  time,  though 
you  have  the  laurel  wreath  upon  your  brow 
and  millions  of  sh_3ing  gold  at  your  feet,  if 
the  path  along  which  you  have  come  is  but  the 
long  reminder  of  wasted  hours  for  cultivating 
the  acquaintance  of  God,  and  through  the 
knowledge  of  Him  to  become  like  Him,  you 
will  be  a  great  deal  poorer  and  more  unsuc- 
cessful than  God  ever  intended  you  should  be. 
I  would  that  God  might  create  within  us  as  we 
go  along  a  keen  realization  of  the  importance 
of  growing  in  grace  and  a  deep  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness,  so  that  while  we 
are  growing  in  stature  and  increasing  in  knowl- 
edge we  may  become  large  in  soul,  having  a 
mind  to  appreciate  and  a  heart  to  love  and  a 
will  to  do  the  things  of  God. 
10 


Ubc  %itc  IFmpIanteD 


Peter  tells  us  to  "grow  in  grace,"  but  there 
must  first  be  life  before  there  can  be  growth. 
This  is  as  true  in  the  spiritual  world  as  it  is  in 
the  natural.  Science  with  all  its  defining  has 
never  been  able  to  define  life.  Formerly  there 
were  two  great  schools  of  science,  one  teaching 
that  "life  can  spring  into  being  of  itself," — a 
theory  known  as  Spontaneous  Generation ;  the 
other  holding  that  life  can  only  come  from  pre- 
existing life.  You  can  hardly  find  a  respecta- 
ble scientist  to-day  who  will  lend  his  name  to 
the  former  view.  Evolution  is  forced  to  befrin 
with  life.  The  evolutionist  thinks  he  has  found 
his  way  back  in  material  to  the  primordial 
germ, but  where  life  came  from  he  confesses  he 
has  never  been  able  to  find  out.  Here  at  least 
the  hand  of  God  seems  to  have  written,  "Thus 
far  and  no  farther."  How  life  originated,  Mr. 
Darwin  designates  "a  hopeless  inquiry." 

Now  an  exact  parallel  to  this  is  found  in  the 
spiritual  world.  That  a  man  must  be  born 
again  before  he  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  a  scientific  necessity. 

Do  you  remember  the  story  of  the  young 

artist  who  had  wrought  so  long  upon  an  angel 

statue  and  concealed  himself  to  hear  what  the 

master  Angelo  would  say  about  it? — when  he 

11 


Uhc  6rowina  Cbrtstian 


heard  the  master  say, "It  only  lacks  one  thing," 
so  near  broken  hearted  did  he  become  that  he 
could  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  until  one  in  deep 
concern  for  him  made  his  way  to  Angelo's 
studio  to  inquire  what  it  was  the  statue 
lacked,  and  the  great  artist  said,  "Man,  it 
lacks  only  life !  If  it  had  life  it  would  be  as 
perfect  as  God  Himself  could  make  it." 

Many  people  honestly  fail  to  understand  this. 
They  cannot  see  the  difference  between  a  man's 
morality  and  a  Christian's  righteousness.  "Why 
a  moral  man  should  not  simply  grow  better  and 
better  until  he  is  good  enough  to  enter  the 
kingdom  of  God  they  honestly  fail  to  see,  but 
it's  the  difference  between  a  lifeless  statue  and 
a  living  soul.  The  difference  between  a  man's 
morality  and  a  Christian's  goodness  is  not  one 
of  quantity  but  of  quality.  To  make  this 
plainer,  let  us  enter  into  the  sphere  of  natural 
things.  If  I  should  ask  you  why  a  tree  could 
not  keep  on  growing  and  growing  until  it 
became  an  animal,  you  could  see  in  an  instant 
why  a  merely  moral  man  cannot  grow  into  the 
goodness  that  pleases  God.  To  draw  a  closer 
distinction :  if  one  should  ask  why  the  sour  crab 
cannot  keep  on  growing  and  developing  until 
its  yield  becomes  the  luscious  golden  fruit  of 
13 


trbe  %\tc  'ffmplante^ 


the  russet,  he  would  have  a  perfectly  intelligent 
answer  to  the  question  perplexing  so  many 
people.  It's  a  difference  in  generation  and 
therefore  in  the  kind  of  life  that  grows,  and 
thus  we  see  that  the  impassable  gulf  between 
the  different  kinds  of  life  in  the  natural  world 
has  its  exact  parallel  in  the  spiritual  sphere  in 
the  barrier  between  the  natural  and  the  super- 
natural life  as  set  forth  by  the  Word  of  God. 
In  the  natural  world,  that  passage,  if  ever 
effected,  must  be  by  the  impartation  of  life 
from  the  higher  to  the  lower ;  so  in  the  spiritual 
world  in  order  to  a  spiritual  development  there 
must  first  be  the  implanting  of  a  spiritual  life. 
This  is  what  Jesus  calls  being  "born  from 
above,"  or  as  the  authorized  version  has  it, 
"born  again."  And  so  before  we  speak  about 
growing  we  must  be  sure  we  are  born. 

And  now  I  can  almost  hear  some  one  saying 
"What  does  it  mean  to  be  born  again,  and  how 
did  I  ever  come  to  have  this  new  life,  and  if  I 
have  it  not,  how  can  I  get  it?"  Well,  the  new 
birth  is  a  profound  mystery — but  not  one  whit 
more  mysterious  to  the  theologian  than  the  first 
birth  is  to  the  physiologist,  ^sop  tells  us  of 
a  hen  that  laid  golden  eggs,  but  a  reaUy  wise 
man  would  be  no  more  surprised  to  see  a  hen 
13 


Zhc  6ro\vtnG  CbriBtian 


lay  a  golden  egg  and  that  egg  hatch  into  a 
young  alligator  than  he  is  to  see  a  tiny  acorn 
produce  a  mighty  acre-covering  oak,  so  far  as 
his  ability  goes  to  explain  either  the  one  or  the 
other.  There  are  some  things  that  really  smart 
men  do  not  know.  "A  religion  without  mys- 
tery is  an  absurdity." 

But  let  us  look  for  a  few  moments  at  the 
matter  in  question,  the  initial  fact  of  divine 
experience.  The  great  difference  between  man 
and  animal  is  that  to  man  was  given  the  addi- 
tional gift  of  a  spirit  that  makes  him  a  moral 
being  and  endows  him  with  immortality.  Now 
let  us  suppose  a  seed  which  we  intend  to  plant. 
"We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  within  the  seed 
is  the  germ  of  life.  We  might  call  that  germ, 
whatever  it  is,  the  spirit  of  the  seed,  although 
it  is  not  immortal  and  if  it  is  not  cared  for  it 
will  perish  forever.  Only,  however,  when  that 
seed  is  planted  and  comes  into  correspondence 
with  certain  environments  does  it  really  begin 
to  live,  for  in  that  correspondence  the  spirit  of 
nature  knocks  at  the  door  of  the  seed  and  says, 
**May  I  come  in?"  and  entering  in,  somehow, 
through  some  mysterious  touch  not  given  man 
to  understand,  life  is  generated  within  the 
waiting  spirit  of  the  seed. 
14 


Ube  %itc  Umplante^ 


Now  I  know  that  some  astute  theologian 
might  venture  an  objection  here,  because  man 
is  said  to  be  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins. 
But  so  is  the  seed  dead.  Man  of  himself  can 
do  nothing ;  what  more  can  the  seed  do?  What 
more  helpless  and  hopeless  thing  can  you 
imagine  than  a  shrivelled  seed  lying  on  the 
shelf?  Apart  from  the  spirit  of  nature,  the 
spirit  within  the  seed,  whatever  it  may  be, 
never  will  live,  and  apart  from  the  Spirit  of 
God  the  spirit  of  man  is  doomed  to  an  eternal 
death  because  it  cannot  generate  one  spark  of 
life  for  itself.  Analogy  usually  breaks  down 
somewhere,  but  the  point  of  comparison  here  is 
that  the  life-giving  voiver,  hoth  in  the  seed  and 
in  the  man  comes  from  ivithout. 

But  lest  some  one  should  protest  that  the 
seed  has  within  it  the  principle  of  life  while 
man  has  not,  let  us  look  beyond  the  point  of 
the  analogy  just  mentioned.  Where  did  the 
seed  get  that  germ  or  that  principle  of  life? 
We  say  that  God  put  it  there  and  the  scientist 
must  admit  as  much  or  at  least  confess  he 
does  not  know.  So  too  must  the  spiritual  life 
come  from  God  if  man  is  ever  to  possess  it. 
We  will  begin  therefore  as  far  back  as  possible. 
We  read  that  ''God  created  man  in  His  own 
15 


the  (Srowtna  Cbrt^tian 


image,  in  His  own  image  created  He  him." 
What  was  this  image?  Not  physical,  for  God 
is  not  such.  Not  spiritual,  for  the  Devil  is  a 
spiritual  being.  Nor  can  we  hardly  say  it  is 
psychical, — I  mean  giving  him  the  power  to 
think,  to  will  and  to  love,  for  I  am  not  so  sure, 
indeed  I  think  we  must  admit,  that  animals  do 
these  things;  at  least  the  Devil  does,  possibly 
with  the  exception  of  loving.  But  in  His 
moral  image  I  think  we  must  take  it ;  that  is, 
man  became  in  the  very  beginning  the  temple 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  God's  Spirit  entered  into 
him,  whereby  his  understanding  was  enlight- 
ened above  all  things  else  to  know  God,  the 
will  inclined  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and  the 
affections  purified  to  love  the  things  of  God. 
Then  came  the  temptation  and  man  fell,  and 
that  which  had  been  the  temj)le  of  God  went 
to  ruin  because  the  Holy  Spirit  who  dwelt  in  it 
was  under  the  painful  necessity  of  leaving  the 
polluted  spot.  Then  followed  the  descent  of  a 
ruined  race  and  every  son  of  Adam  has  been 
born  in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  until 
man's  nature  is  renewed  by  the  restoration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit;  not  only  is  his  mind,  his  will 
and  his  affections  alienated  from  God,  but 
Scripture  is  very  express  in  stating  his  utter 
16 


tlbe  %iU  1Fmplante5 


inability  to  do  the  things  which  are  right. 
*' Cannot"  is  the  word  used  concerning  him. 
As  to  his  understanding,  he  cannot  know  the 
things  of  God  (1  Cor.  2:14);  as  to  his  will,  he 
cannot  be  subject  to  the  law  of  God  (Rom. 
8:7);  as  to  his  affection,  he  cannot  love  God 
(same  verse) ,  and  as  to  his  life,  he  cannot  please 
God  (Rom.  8:  8).  Upon  his  utter  lack,  there- 
fore, of  spiritual  life  and  his  utter  inability  to 
do  anything  for  himself  is  grounded  the  neces- 
sity for  the  new  birth,  which  means  the  res- 
toration of  the  moral  im-age  of  God  by  the 
re-incoming  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  "Verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  except  a  man  be  born  again  (except 
he  have  the  new  life  imparted  to  him  from 
above)  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
He  lacks  the  essential  condition  for  seeing  it. 
As  well  try  to  think  with  his  foot  or  to  love 
with  his  hand  as  to  appreciate  the  things  of 
God  so  as  to  do  them  without  being  born  from 
above.  The  nature  which  a  man  gets  at  his 
first  birth  is  human;  the  nature  which  he  gets 
at  his  second  birth  is  divine.  The  one  is  the 
Adam  nature,  the  other  is  the  Christ  nature, 
and  by  no  course  of  education,  by  no  kind  of 
ethical  culture,  by  no  process  of  evolution,  can 
the  natural  man  be  made  into  the  spiritual.  It 
17 


Ube  6rowlna  Cbtistian 


is  scientifically  impossible.  Te  must  be  born 
again.  The  Spirit  of  God  must  come  and  bring 
spiritual  life  with  Him,  and  when  He  has  come 
in  only  then  does  a  man  become  a  spiritual 
being  in  the  highest  sense  of  spirituality. 

Dear  friend,  before  we  go  on  to  speak  of 
growth  would  it  not  be  well  to  pause  long 
enough  to  ask,  *'Have  I  the  life  from  which  a 
growth  in  grace  can  really  spring,  or  have  I 
been  finding  satisfaction  in  a  character  wrought 
by  human  workmanship  rather  than  produced 
by  the  Spirit  of  God?"  Some  one  has  said, 
**One  birth,  two  deaths;  two  births,  one 
death."  Have  you  been  born  the  second 
time?  Have  you  really  and  sincerely  come  to 
God  and  told  Him  that  He  could  have  His 
way  with  you?  If  you  have,  then  you  may 
trust  God  for  the  regeneration  and  not  worry 
about  it. 

Then  Paul  tells  us  that  "the  Spirit  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children 
of  God."  Have  you  such  a  witness?  Dear 
friend,  if  you  are  walking  in  newness  of  life 
and  trying  to  keep  yourself  unspotted  from  the 
world  you  will  not  be  without  the  witness  of 
the  Spirit.  It  He  does  nothing  more,  He  will 
say  to  you  every  moment  you  stop  to  listen, 
18 


Ube  %itc  UmplanteD 


**You  have  taken  God  at  His  word  and  God 
will  never  fail  you." 

But  some  one  wants  to  know  if  there  are  not 
certain  effects  of  the  new  birth  which  can  help 
us  to  an  assurance  such  as  we  fain  would  have? 
Yes,  there  are  such  effects,  and  while  they 
become  more  and  more  manifest  as  one  grows 
in  grace  they  are  in  evidence  from  the  very 
hour  of  regeneration.  These  results  come  in 
the  most  natural  direction.  If  I  should  ask 
you  to  mention  for  me  the  faculties  of  your 
soul,  you  would  say,  *'I  have  a  mind  with 
which  to  think;  I  have  a  will  with  which  to 
choose  and  I  have  a  heart  with  which  to  love,'* 
and  further  than  this  you  would  not  be  able  to 
go.  Xow  it  is  exactly  upon  these  faculties  the 
Holy  Spirit  operates  when  He  regenerates.  He 
illumines  the  understanding;  He  renews  the 
will;  He  purifies  the  affection. 

What  about  your  understanding?  Does  it 
appreciate  the  things  of  God?  *'I  don't  see 
what  you  find  in  that  picture  to  hold  your 
attention  so  long,"  said  one  friend  to  another. 
*'Don't  you  wish  you  could?"  replied  the 
other.  The  last  man  had  within  him  the 
spirit  of  an  artist.  There  was  an  attractive- 
ness in  the  picture  appealing  to  something 
19 


Zhc  Growing  Cbrtsttan 


within  his  soul.     Let  us  test  ourselves  by  this 
principle. 

1.  The  Word  of  God.  Does  it  mean  any- 
thing to  you  or  is  it  a  dull  and  uninteresting 
book?  We  find  it  written  within  that  a  real 
Christian  will  feed  upon  the  Word  and  it  will 
be  as  manna  to  his  soul,  but  when  you  per- 
chance have  tasted  of  it  you  have  found  your- 
self altogether  without  an  appetite  for  such 
nourishment.  It  took  such  a  hold  upon  one 
person  that  he  said  he  would  meditate  on  it  day 
and  night,  but  his  eyes  had  been  opened  that 
he  might  behold  wonderful  things  as  he  read. 

2.  What  about  Prayer?  Has  it  any  meaning 
for  you?  When  you  hear  people  singing  about 
the  "Sweet  hour  of  Prayer,"  do  you  find  your- 
self wondering  what  they  mean?  Possibly  you 
thought  once  you  would  pray,  but  you  heard 
no  sweet  whispering  of  the  divine  voice  and  the 
God,  in  whom  of  course  everyone  believes, 
seemed  too  far  away  to  hear,  or  too  uncon- 
cerned, for  ought  you  knew,  to  care  if  He  had 
heard. 

3.  What  about  the  voice  of  nature?  To  the 
regenerate  person  Paul  says  "all  things  have 
become  new."  A  man  who  had  recently  given 
himself  to   Christ  was  walking  through  the 

SO 


ZTbe  Xtte  'ffmplante^ 


garden  with  a  friend  and  plucking  a  flower  from 
its  stem  said,  "Isn't  it  beautiful;  I  never  knew 
how  beautiful  a  flower  was  until  I  gave  myself 
to  Christ."  There's  a  volume  of  meaning  in 
that.  Things  do  look  and  are  more  beautiful 
to  a  Christian  because  he  knows  that  although 
the  blessings  of  Providence  are  over  the  good 
and  bad  alike,  it  is  all  for  Christ's  sake  and  in 
everything  round  about  him  he  has  a  continual 
vision  of  his  Lord. 

I  am  not  going  to  take  upon  myself  the 
responsibility  of  unchristianizing  anybody;  the 
very  appreciation,  whose  lack  we  have  been 
deploring,  is  itself  a  thing  of  growth.  But  if 
you  are  an  utter  stranger  to  these  things  or  the 
appetite  for  them,  I  wonder  if  we  must  not 
look  for  the  reason  in  the  words  of  Paul  where 
he  says,  "The  natural  man  recoiveth  not  the 
things  of  God,  neither  can  he  know  them,  for 
they  are  spiritually  discerned." 

They  have  pictured  to  us  a  girl,  blind  and 
deaf,  placed  upon  a  tower-top  and  touching 
the  world  about  her  only  through  the  soles  of 
her  feet  and  the  breezes  that  kissed  her  cheek; 
and  then  from  the  throne  of  God  came  an 
angel  and  touching  those  sightless  eyes  and 
soundless  ears  cried, "Daughter,  see !  Daughter, 
21 


XTbe  Growing  Cbristian 


hear!"  and  instantly  there  flowed  into  her  soul 
through  the  open  eyes  and  ears  the  myriad 
sights  and  sounds  of  a  world  all  new.  ''Old 
things,"  says  Paul,  "have  passed  away;  all 
things  have  become  new.  Something  like  that 
is  the  experience  when  by  His  Spirit  is  first 
revealed  the  Son  of  God  to  man.  Friend,  you 
need  not  be  brilliant  in  mind  to  have  the  eyes 
of  your  understanding  opened,  but  if  you  are 
willing  that  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  have  His 
way  with  you,  there  will  come  to  you  such  an 
appreciation  of  Christ  as  shall  seem  like  the 
creation  of  a  new  faculty  within  your  soul, 
whereby  you  shall  see  and  hear  and  understand 
things  which  the  eye  and  ear  and  heart  of  the 
natural  man  hath  never  known. 

And  now  a  word  about  the  other  powers  of 
the  soul.  We  spoke  about  the  will;  what 
about  yours?  It  gives  you  the  power  to 
choose,  but  what  about  your  choices?  Whose 
pleasure  and  whose  glory  do  you  consult  in  the 
choices  you  make?  Have  you  ever  known  what 
it  means  to  do  a  thing  for  Christ's  sake,  or  are 
you  continually  seeking  to  please  yourself? 
Have  you  a  wrong  passion  which  your  will  is 
powerless  to  conquer?  Are  you  weak  in  the 
hour  of  temptation? 

22 


Ubc  %itc  Umplante^ 


Bishop  Taylor  told  us  of  a  black  man, 
recently  converted,  who  was  kneeling  at  the 
altar  for  communion,  and  presently  the  Bishop 
saw  him  looking  intently  and  wildly  at  the  man 
by  his  side  and  then  in  great  agitation  he  arose 
and  fled  into  the  forest.  Presently  he  came 
back  and  quietly  taking  his  place  at  the  altar, 
finished  the  communion,  eating  from  the  same 
loaf  and  drinking  from  the  same  cup  with  the 
man  from  whose  presence  he  had  just  fled. 
After  the  service  Bishop  Taylor  inquired  the 
cause  of  his  strange  conduct,  and  the  man  told 
him  that  in  the  one  by  his  side  he  recognized  the 
one  who  had  long  ago  slain  his  father  and  that 
he  had  sworn  a  great  oath  of  revenge.  But  in 
the  meantime  he  had  been  converted,  yet  when 
he  saw  the  man  there  he  remembered  the  mur- 
der and  his  oath  and  the  old  hatred  awoke 
within  him,  and  so  great  was  the  temptation 
that  came  upon  him  that  it  drove  him  out  into 
the  wilderness  where  the  Evil  One  assailed  him, 
but  upon  his  knees  he  conquered  through  the 
power  of  a  will  renewed  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
Do  you  have  victory  or  do  you  have  continual 
defeat? 

And  now  briefly  a  question  about  your  affec- 
tions. *' Where  your  treasure  is  there  will  your 
23 


Ube  C^towtuG  Cbrtsttan 


heart  be  also."  A  wardrobe  is  a  poor  prison 
for  an  immortal  spirit.  It  could  find  nothing 
to  wear  there  if  summoned  suddenly  into  the 
presence  of  God.  It  would  be  sad  to  lose  your 
heart  and  find  it  in  the  vault,  hard  and  yellow 
like  the  gold  upon  which  it  is  set;  to  discover 
it  living,  or  rather  dying,  upon  the  vitiated 
atmosphere  of  the  dancing  room,  but  in  just 
such  places  will  it  be  if  such  are  the  things 
that  are  dear  to  it.  But  not  only  does  the  one 
who  has  passed  from  death  unto  life  turn  from 
the  sinful  and  the  vile  and  become  enamored  of 
that  which  is  pure  and  holy,  but  he  begins  to 
see  things  in  their  true  relation  and  to  seek 
above  all  things  else  for  the  treasure  that  is 
neither  corrupted  by  moth  nor  stolen  by 
thieves. 

And  then  you  know  that  John  says,  "We 
know  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life 
because  we  love  the  brethren."  The  Christian 
finds  his  heart  going  out  to  all  his  fellowmen, 
but  first,  of  course,  and  in  a  more  intimate 
sense,  to  the  children  of  God.  I  know  of  no 
surer  sign  of  the  unregenerate  condition  than 
that  one's  heart  should  feel  no  stronger  attrac- 
tion for  a  Christian  than  for  one  who  has  not 
crowned  the  Christian's  Christ  in  his  heart, 
24 


XTbe  %itc  Umplante^ 


This  is  doubtless  the  primary  reference  of  the 
word  "brethren."  But  the  Christian  does  not 
stop  with  this.  His  sympathy  has  a  wider 
reach.  He  will  have  a  concern  for  the  unsaved. 
Mr.  Morgan  tells  of  two  men,  nominal  Chris- 
tians, who  worked  side  by  side  for  five  years 
before  finding  out,  either  of  them,  that  the 
other  had  ever  made  a  profession  of  religion. 
One  of  them,  in  telling  this  to  Mr.  Morgan, 
said,  "Wasn't  it  funny?"  "Funny!"  said  Mr. 
Morgan,  "why  no;  go  find  the  man  and  let  us 
get  down  before  God;  you  never  have  been 
born  again."  I  am  judging  no  one,  but  surely 
if  one  has  the  life  of  God  within  him  it  ought 
not  take  the  world  five  years  to  find  it  out. 

I  know  these  remarks  are  calculated  to  make 
us  feel  uncomfortable,  yet  nothing  that  any 
man  might  say  could  ever  bring  snch  a  feeling 
to  him  who  is  trusting  in  Christ  and  has  the 
witness  of  the  Spirit  within  himself.  Nor 
must  we  forget  what  was  said  a  moment  ago — 
that  these  very  graces  are  the  things  in  which 
we  grow  and  may  not  in  the  first  hours  of 
Christian  experience  be  so  much  in  evidence, 
but  if  you  are  forced  to  feel  as  you  read,  that 
your  experience  has  been  destitute  of  them  all, 
then  I  pray  you  to  ask  God  for  a  vision  of 
25 


TLbc  Growing  Cbrietian 


yourself;  and  then  ask  Him  for  a  vision  of 
Himself  and  beseech  Him  to  stamp  His  image 
upon  you. 

When  God  was  about  to  make  man  He  called 
to  Him  His  three  ministering  angels  and  turn- 
ing to  the  first  said,  "Justice,  shall  we  make 
man?"  and  Justice  said,  "Make  him  not,  oh 
God,  for  he  will  trample  on  Thy  laws."  Then 
said  God  to  the  second,  "Truth,  shall  we  make 
man?"  and  Truth  said,  "Oh,  God,  make  him 
not,  for  he  will  pollute  Thy  sanctuaries." 
Then  said  God,  turning  to  the  third,  "Mercy, 
shall  we  make  man?"  and  Mercy,  dropping  on 
her  knees  and  looking  up  through  her  tears, 
said,  "Oh,  God,  make  him,  and  I  will  watch 
over  him  with  my  care  and  follow  him  in  all 
the  dark  paths  he  will  have  to  tread."  Then 
God  made  man  in  His  own  image  and  said, 
"Oh,  man,  thou  art  the  child  of  Mercy.  Go." 
Unbelieving  one,  thou  art  the  child  of  mercy! 
How  good  mercy  has  been  to  you ! — sending  you 
the  only  Son  of  God  to  atone  for  your  sin,  fol- 
lowing you  in  your  sin,  whispering  of  forgive- 
ness and  wooing  you,  if  possible,  back  to 
heaven.  Let  us  draw  back  the  bolts  of  our 
wills  now  and  He  who  stands  without  with  the 
gift  of  life  will  open  the  door  and  enter  in,  and 


Ubc  %itc  UmplanteJ) 


thus  having  life  we  will  grow  in  His  grace  and 
in  the  knowledge  of  Him,  and  thus  growing 
become  like  Him  whom  we  shall  some  day  see 
face  to  face.     God  grant  it ! 


27 


^* Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  Take  no  thought  for 
your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink; 
nor  yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not 
the  life  more  than  meat  and  the  body  than  raiment? 
Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air:  they  sow  not  neither  do 
they  reap  nor  gather  into  barns;  yet  your  heavenly 
Father  feedeth  them.  Are  ye  not  much  better  than 
they?  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one 
cubit  to  his  stature?  And  why  take  ye  thought  for 
raiment?  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how 
THEY  GROW ;  they  toil  not  neither  do  they  spin.  And 
yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these."" — St.  Matthew'g 
Gospel,  Chapter  6. 


28 


•fcow  to  (Btow 


HOW  TO  GROW 

"  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow.*' 
—Matt.  6:28. 

I  BELIEVE  with  Browning  that  "Man  was 
made  to  grow,  not  stop."  Greater  men 
than  Browning  evidently  believed  in  this 
too,  for  we  hear  Paul  declaring  that  "Whom 
He  did  foreknow.  He  also  did  predestinate  to 
be  conformed  to  the  image  of  His  Son" — to 
grow  into  His  likeness.  He  tells  the  Colos- 
sians  that  he  only  wished  they  might  know 
how  he  had  prayed  for  them  that  they  might 
be  well  rooted  and  grounded,  and  to  the  Thes- 
salonians  he  said,  "Brethren,  we  beseech  you 
that  you  increase  more  and  more."  And 
Peter,  likewise,  in  more  places  than  one,  leaves 
with  the  people  the  same  injunction.  We  have 
spent  a  little  time  in  studying  the  life  as  im- 
planted; let  us  now  spend  a  little  in  seeing 
how  it  grows. 

If  you  are  sighing  to-day  for  the  **joy  which 
once  you  knew  when  first  you  found  the 
Lord,"  it  is  because  you  have  not  been  a  grow- 
ing Christian.  Conversion  is  only  the  begin- 
ning of  what  God  can  do  for  a  human  soul. 
29 


Zbc  (BrowtuG  Cbrtsttan 


"Have  you  on  the  Lord  believed? 

Still  there's  more  to  follow; 
Of  His  grace  have  you  received? 

Still  there's  more  to  follow. 
More  and  more,  more  and  more, 

Always  more  to  follow ; 
Oh,  His  matchless,  boundless  love ! — 

Still  there's  more  to  follow." 

*'For  He  is  able  to  do  for  us  exceedingly- 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think," 
and  we  may  "increase  more  and  more"  and 
**grow  in  grace"  until  the  measure  of  our 
stature  shall  be  something  like  the  fullaess  of 
His  own. 

I  want  God  to  do  for  me  all  that  He  can  do 
for  any  man  in  this  life.  I  know  I  shall  be 
satisfied  when  I  awake  in  His  likeness,  hut  I 
do  not  want  to  be  satisfied  here  with  anything 
less  than  the  nearest  likeness  to  Him  that  any 
man  can  bear.  If  there  are  deep  things  of  God 
which  can  only  be  searched  by  His  Spirit,  then 
I  want  His  Spirit  to  lead  me  into  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  deepest  truth ;  if  there  are  moun- 
tain top  experiences  from  which  I  can  come, 
like  His  servant  of  old,  with  my  face  shining 
with  the  presence  of  God,  I  want  to  go  up  into 
the  mountain ;  if  down  in  the  valley  there  are 
trials  and  afflictions  from  which  I  may  come  up 
30 


Dow  to  (Brow 


with  my  soul  chastened,  and  be  more  meek  and 
lowly,  more  tender  and  sympathetic,  and  more 
like  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  I  want  to  go  down 
into  the  valley ;  if  there  are  conditions  which 
if  fulfilled  will  bring  a  power  from  God  that  can 
give  me  victory  over  sin  and  can  make  and 
keep  my  life  pure  and  spotless  and  holy,  I  want 
to  fulfill  the  conditions  and  receive  that 
power. 

"More  like  my  Saviour  would  I  grow, 
More  of  His  grace  to  others  show; 
More  of  His  saving  fullness  see, 
More  of  His  love  who  died  for  me. " 

Science  recognizes  what  is  known  as  a  **bal- 
ance  of  life, ' '  a  condition  of  life  where  there  is 
neither  growth  nor  retrogression;  but  such  a 
state  of  equilibrium  is  really  foreign  to  organic 
things  save  in  theory,  and  what  seems  to  be 
such  a  balance  is  really  a  painfully  slow  pro- 
gression, or  what  is  more  likely  an  equally  slow 
retrogression.  Where  there  is  life  there  must 
be  either  growth  or  decay.  Peter  seems  to 
have  had  this  in  mind  in  his  epistle.  He  had 
been  telling  them  of  a  day  of  testing  which  was 
to  come  and  then  warned  them  lest  they  should 
fall  from  their  steadfastness,  adding  immedi- 
ately thereunto,  "But  grow  in  grace."  Por 
31 


ttbe  Growing  CbriBtlan 


them  it  was  either  to  fall  from  their  steadfast- 
ness or  to  grow  in  grace.  There  is  no  stand- 
ing still,  and  if  the  life  of  the  soul  is  to  be 
what  God  would  have  it  be  it  must  be  one  of 
continual  progress  in  grace  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Most  people  have  recognized  the  infinite 
desirability  of  being  good.  It  was  Huxley  who 
said  that  if  some  great  power  would  agree  to 
make  him  always  think  what  is  good  and  do 
what  is  right  on  condition  of  being  turned  into 
a  sort  of  a  clock  and  wound  up  every  morning 
he  would  instantly  close  with  the  offer.  Well, 
there  is  a  way,  and  that  without  being  turned 
into  a  sort  of  a  clock  or  any  other  machine ;  it 
is  to  become  good  just  as  a  lily  becomes  beau- 
tiful. But  alas!  for  the  number  who  are 
trying  some  other  method,  but  you  can  always 
hear  the  rattle  of  the  wheels  and  the  din  of  the 
machinery.  Suppose  we  mention  a  few  of 
these  man-contrived  methods. 

1.  One  is  Resolution.  I  will  resolve  and 
therefore  be  good.  But  a  man  might  as  well 
try  to  lift  himself  by  pulling  at  his  bootstraps. 
A  good  resolution  is  nothing  more  than  a  fit  of 
sporadic  earnestness,  and  while  they  are  a  good 
kind  of  fits  for  every  man  to  ha^  they  can 
83 


Ibow  to  (Brow 


never  make  a  man  really  good.  Suppose  the 
little  lad  who  always  wants  to  be  a  man 
resolves  some  day  that  he  will  get  big,  can  he 
by  any  thought  whatever  add  one  cubit  to  his 
stature?  The  Master  said,  No.  This  is  the 
usual  method  of  the  unregenerate,  but  the 
really  sorrowful  thing  is  that  so  many  Chris- 
tians are  trusting  in  it  too.  I  warrant  that  all 
of  us  have  over  and  over  again  resolved  and 
then  failed  at  the  very  point  of  our  resolution. 
We  forget  that  the  very  thing  we  resolve  to 
become  would  be  the  easy  and  natural  outcome 
if  God's  way  had  the  supremacy  instead  of  our 
own. 

2.  Another  method  we  might  call  Eradication, 
Dealing  with  one  sin  at  a  time.  If  too  diffi- 
cult to  wholly  abandon  at  once,  I  will  do  so  by 
degrees  and  when  this  one  has  been  eradicated 
I  will  turn  my  attention  to  another.  The 
trouble  with  this  theory  is  that  most  of  us  have 
so  many  sins  that  we'd  die  before  we  got  half 
way  through,  and  if  we  did  get  through  we'd 
be  a  dwarf  anyhow,  for  we've  added  nothing 
however  much  we  've  taken  away.  But  the 
chief  difficulty  is  this :  we  used  the  word  eradi- 
cation, but  that  is  exactly  what  does  not  occur. 
The  root  of  the  sin  is  still  there  and  when  we 
83 


trbe  Growing  Cbristlan 


think  we  have  conquered  one  and  turned  our 
attention  to  another,  the  first  puts  on  new 
strength  and  marks  the  point  of  another 
defeat. 

3.  The  third  method  is  that  of  Imitation.  I 
will  copy  the  virtues  of  the  good  and  so  become 
like  them.  But  most  of  us  are  very  poor  hands 
at  imitation,  and  at  best  such  an  art  only  yields 
an  artificial  product  and  people  can  always  tell 
the  difference.  Titian  was  a  good  imitator  but 
he  never  became  great  till  he  left  his  master's 
models  and  getting  close  up  to  nature's  heart 
allowed  her  to  breathe  her  inspiration  into  his 
soul.  Mr.  Meyer  was  one  time  traveling  by 
the  side  of  a  young  man  who  was  reading 
Thomas  A.  Kempis'  Imitation  of  Christy  and 
noticing  the  book  said,  "A  grand  book." 
*'Yes,"  was  the  reply.  *'I  have  found  some- 
thing better,"  said  Mr.  Meyer.  *' Better?" 
*'Yes,  better  for  me,"  said  Mr.  Meyer.  "I 
was  never  a  very  good  hand  at  imitating. "  He 
said  when  the  master  gave  him  a  drawing  to  copy 
at  school  his  imitation  needed  always  to  have  a 
statement  written  beneath  to  let  one  know  for 
what  it  was  intended.  But  said  he:  *'My 
young  friend,  if  my  drawing  master  could  have 
infused  the  spirit  of  his  skill  into  my  brain  and 
84 


1bow  to  Grow 


hand,  he  could  have  drawn  through  me  as  fair 
a  drawing  as  his  own.  And  if  instead  of 
imitating  Christ  far  away  in  glory  He  will  come 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  dwell  in  me,  by  His 
grace  He  shall  work  through  my  poor-yielded 
life  a  life  something  like  His  own  fair  life.'* 

Ah  J  friends,  now  we  are  getting  back  to 
where  we  started;  there's  a  better  way  to  be 
good  than  these  we've  been  considering — in 
fact,  the  only  way  to  be  really  good.  If  we  can 
say,  like  Paul,  "Christ  liveth  in  me,"  why  not 
let  the  Christ-life  develop  within  ns?  "He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,"  and  having 
studied  the  life  as  implanted  let  us  now  "con- 
sider the  lilies,  how  they  grow. ' '  For  I  am 
sure  if  we  can  learn  the  lesson  of  the  lily,  our 
life  instead  of  being  a  series  of  dismal  disap- 
pointments and  heart-rending  failures,  will  rise 
into  the  beauty  of  holiness  even  as  the  sweet 
flower  of  which  we  speak  rises  from  the  garden 
of  its  God  into  its  more  than  Solomon-like 
glory. 

Three  things  present  themselves  at  this  point : 
1.  The  mysteriousness  of  growth.     It  is  not 
the  process  the  Master  would  have  us  contem- 
plate, for  this  we  never  could  understand,  and 
in  order  to  grow  it  is  not  necessary  to  know 
85 


Ube  (3rovvlnG  Cbristian 


how  to  grow.  No  scientist  understands  Jioiu 
the  lily  grows.  It  is  so  with,  the  growth  of 
character.  If  yours  is  a  manufactured  good- 
ness, like  other  artificial  things,  it  will  not  be 
hard  to  explain;  if  it  is  the  fruit  of  an  inner 
growing  life,  the  child  of  God  may  appreciate 
it,  but  God  alone  can  understand  it. 

2.  The  lily  does  not  try  to  grow.  Of  course 
that  were  an  impossibility  for  an  unconscious 
thing,  but  it's  just  as  true  of  your  life  and 
mine,  both  in  the  physical  and  the  spiritual 
sphere.  This  is  the  lesson  Christ  meant  to 
enforce.  E"o  amount  of  anxiety  or  worry  or 
thought  will  add  one  cubit  to  our  stature  or 
perfect  one  grace  within  our  soul.  The  Chris- 
tian's life  is  to  be  a  composed  life.  Growth 
really  takes  place;  if  there  is  life  and  health  in 
the  body  growth  is  not  only  natural  but  inev- 
itable; it  is  so  with  the  soul,  and  where  there 
is  health  of  the  soul  the  life  within  the  soul 
will  unfold  itself  as  naturally  as  the  lily  from 
its  bud. 

3.  There  is,  however,  a  certain  condition  of 
health  and  it  is  to  this  the  Christian  is  to  turn 
his  attention,  and  as  he  does  so  he  will  discover 
that  the  growing  will  take  care  of  itself  or 
rather  God  will  take  care  of  it,  for  He  it  is 

30 


Dow  to  Grow 


after  all  who  does  the  growing.  Certainly  if  we 
are  to  be  healthy  we  must  have  the  proper  diet. 
The  reason  we  have  so  many  puny  Christians  is 
the  want  of  proper  nourishment. 

It  has  become  the  custom,  and  really  a  divine 
one,  to  give  the  poor  children  of  the  city  a  few 
weeks'  outing  in  the  country.  A  handful  of 
them  were  once  taken  to  a  farm  house  and  a  rare 
treat  for  them  it  was  indeed.  The  mother  of 
the  home  noticed  that  one  little  fellow  did  not 
drink  his  milk,  and  she  asked  him  why.  And 
he  said,  *'I  ain't  got  no  milk."  ''Why,  yes," 
she  said,  "Johnny,  that's  your  milk  right  by 
your  plate."  And  the  little  fellow  said,  "That 
ain't  milk;  milk's  blue."  He  had  been  living 
on  watered  milk  down  in  the  city  and  almost 
the  hardest  trial  that  ever  came  into  his  life 
was  when  he  had  to  leave  the  fresh,  creamy 
drink  at  the  farm  house  and  go  back  to  the 
doctored  milk  of  the  city.  Too  many  Chris- 
tians are  living  on  blue  milk,  and  is  it  any 
wonder  there  is  so  much  stunted  growth  among 
us?  There's  rich  food  that  God's  prepared;  it 
brings  health  and  a  relish  to  those  who  try  it. 

The  Christian's  nourishment  comes  to  him 
through  certain  channels  and  to  these  now  for 
a  brief  time  let  us  turn  our  attention.  If  we 
37 


Ube  Orowtng  Cbristtan 


were  asked,  What  are  these  channels, — these 
means  of  grace?  we  would  almost  recite  them 
in  concert,  so  apparent  are  they  as  the  chief 
source  of  spiritual  strength.  To  carry  on  the 
analogy,  we  might  liken  these  means  of  grace 
to  the  lily's  roots,  each  of  which,  as  well  as 
every  feeler,  has  its  own  little  mouth  through 
which  passes  the  heat  and  moisture  of  the  soil 
on  their  way  to  strengthen  the  growing  plant 
above.  There  are  more  of  these  roots  than  we 
shall  mention,  but  the  ones  you  are  expecting 
to  be  mentioned  are  three: 

1.  The  first  is  the  Word  of  God.  Peter  says, 
*'As  newborn  babes  desire  the  sincere  milk  of 
the  Word  that  ye  may  grow  thereby."  What- 
ever else  that  means,  it  means  that  the  Word 
of  God  is  a  good  thing  to  feed  on.  It's  too  bad 
that  so  many  people  seem  to  have  misunder- 
stood Peter.  Milk,  you  know,  is  food  which 
has  passed  through  the  digestion  of  another, 
and  so  there  are  some  who  think  that  about  all 
the  feeding  they  need  is  what  the  minister 
hands  out  to  them  on  Sunday  morning.  I 
refer  to  these  bottle  Christians  who  use  their 
pastor  as  a  nurse.  How  strange  that  so  many 
Christians  should  be  satisfied  with  a  nourish- 
ment like  that !  Whatever  else  Peter  meant  he 
38 


1bow  to  (3row 


didn't  mean  that  by  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
Word.  How  sad  it  is  and  yet  how  true  that 
the  majority  of  Christians  are  not  students  of 
the  Bible.  In  some  homes  it  is  only  an  orna- 
ment for  the  center  table  or  a  family  record  to 
tell  when  the  old  folks  were  married  and  when 
brother  died  and  sister  was  born.  There  are 
thousands  of  nominal  Christians  who  can  tell 
you  the  number  of  cards  in  a  eucher  deck  but 
couldn't  tell  the  number  of  books  in  the  Bible 
to  save  their  lives.  Not  that  there  is  any  par- 
ticular merit  in  this  latter,  but  that  it  is  sad 
indeed  that  anyone  called  by  the  name  of 
Christ  should  know  so  much  about  the  one  and 
so  little  about  the  other.  What  growth  can 
you  expect  in  such  a  soul?  They  are  indeed 
like  the  rich  farmer  who  had  his  barns  stored 
with  corn  and  said  to  his  soul,  "Soul,  thou 
hast  much  goods,  eat,  drink  and  be  merry." 
Trying  to  feed  his  soul  on  corn.  A  neglected 
Bible  means  a  starved  and  puny  spirit,  a 
dwarfed  soul  and  a  barren  life.  Jesus  in  His 
priestly  prayer  for  you  and  me  said  to  the 
Father,  "Sanctify  them  by  Thy  truth;  Thy 
word  is  truth."  What  does  this  mean  but 
that  the  Word  is  the  chief  instrument  in  our 
sanctification?  It  is  from  the  Word  that  the 
39 


(Tbe  (3rowtna  Cbrtsttan 


Spirit  takes  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  shows 
them  unto  us  and  thus  only  can  we  come  to 
know  the  living  Word  through  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  Word  which  is  written, 
and  that  is  what  sanctification  means — to  know 
Christ. 

And  how  shall  I  read  the  Word. 

(1)  First  of  all,  Praijerfully.  That  the  Holy 
Spirit  may  be  your  interpreter  and  that  you 
may  have  that  spirit  which  will  cause  you  to 
believe  every  word  of  it  as  God's  message  for 
you. 

(2)  Frequently.  More  especially  in  stated 
and  uninterrupted  seasons.  To  be  healthy  and 
growing  one  must  be  regular  in  his  diet. 

(3)  Carefully.  Eeading  the  Bible  every  day 
simply  for  the  sake  of  regularity  is  of  little 
value;  as  if  such  a  perfunctory  performance 
were  to  act  as  a  charm  about  us  during  the 
day!  Such  people  might  save  even  the  little 
time  required  by  securing  a  minature  Bible  to 
hang  about  their  necks.  One  cold  morning 
as  Miss  Havergal  was  about  her  daily  Bible 
study,  her  sister  besought  her  to  read  with  her 
feet  more  comfortably  to  the  fire.  *'But  then, 
Marie,"  said  the  saintly  invalid,  *'I  can't  rule 
my  lines  so  neatly;  just  see  what  a  find  I've 

4Q 


Dow  to  Grow 


got."  She  was  in  the  habit  of  marking  her 
Bible,  which  is  most  excellent;  but  when  one 
studies  it  as  she  did  there  will  be  no  need  to 
mark  the  place  where  you  stop  that  you  may 
know  where  to  begin  next  time.  That's  the 
way  Mr.  Moody  used  to  hoe  potatoes  when  a 
boy,  so  he  said,  and  that's  the  way  many  people 
read  their  Bibles.  It  seems  as  though  God 
has  purposely  hidden  the  treasures  of  His 
Word,  some  of  them  deep,  and  others  at  least 
a  little  underneath  the  surface,  as  if  to  test  our 
earnestness  in  searching  for  them  and  to  insure 
a  keener  appreciation  and  a  profounder  joy 
when  once  we  have  brought  them  to  light. 
What  a  wonderful  book  it  is! 

*'Were  all  the  seas  one  chrysolite, 
The  earth  a  golden  ball, 
And  diamonds  all  the  stars  of  night, 
This  book  were  worth  them  all!" 

To  studiously  and  carefully  pore  over  its 
pages  is  like  eating  meat  at  the  King's  table. 
Dear  child  of  God,  are  you  neglecting  this 
Word  or  are  you  feeding  upon  it?  I  am  sure  if 
you  can  say  with  the  prophet,  "Thy  words 
were  found  and  I  did  eat  them,"  that  you  can 
also  say  with  him,  "And  Thy  Word  was  unto 
me  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  my  heart."  "I 
41 


XTbe  Growing  Cbrlsttan 


will  answer  for  it,"  said  Romaine,  *'tlie  longer 
you  read  the  Bible  the  more  you  will  like  it — it 
will  grow  sweeter  and  sweeter;  and  the  more 
you  get  into  the  spirit  of  it  the  more  you  will 
get  into  the  Spirit  of  Christ." 

2.  The  second  condition  of  growth,  cr  root 
rather,  through  which  the  soul  is  to  be  fed  is 
Secret  Prayer.  And  by  secret  prayer  is  meant 
rather  the  occasion  of  deliberate  approach, 
when  in  our  closet,  as  Andrew  Murray  says, 
*'we  are  shut  out  from  men  and  shut  in  with 
God";  this  rather  than  breathing  the  atmos- 
phere of  constant  communion,  this  rather  than 
praying  without  ceasing,  is  what  is  meant  by 
secret  prayer.  The  two  are  not,  of  course,  to 
be  vitally  severed.  They  really  animate  and 
feed  each  other  and  are  the  complements  in  the 
life  of  perfect  fellowship.  How  blessed  so  to 
breathe  the  atmosphere  of  prayer  that  anywhere 
and  everywhere  the  soul  will  cast  quick  glances 
at  its  ever  present  Lord ;  glances  which  speak 
to  Him  in  adoration,  in  love,  in  petition  and 
reliance;  to  have  such  constant  fellowship  that 
even  the  smallest  details  of  our  lives  will  not 
be  too  insignificant  to  mention  to  Him.  But 
I  very  much  fear  that  one  who  thus  expects  to 
commune  without  the  more  stated  seasons  of 


1bow  to  (Brow 


private  prayer  will  find  himself  forgetting  his 
privilege  in  the  busy  rush  of  life,  and  certainly 
there  could  be  no  better  preparation  for  such  a 
day's  communion  than  to  begin  that  day  with 
a  season  of  quiet  interview  with  Him  whom  we 
desire  to  go  with  us  to  our  daily  duty. 

In  Hosea  14:  5  we  hear  the  Lord  saying,  *'I 
will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel  and  Israel  shall 
grow  up  as  the  lily."  The  dew,  it  is  said,  falls 
or  gathers  only  when  the  atmosphere  is  still, 
and  so  the  heavenly  refreshing  comes  best  in 
the  quiet  of  communion  with  our  God.  When 
the  Psalmist  said,  ''Evening,  morning  and 
noon  will  I  pray,"  he  used  a  word  that  means 
"to  muse,"  "to  meditate,"  and  its  Greek 
equivalent  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  "narrating 
fully,"  and  so  when  we  have  gotten  alone  with 
God  and  told  Him  all  about  it  we  hear  the 
sweet  whisper  of  His  approval,  or  of  His  for- 
giveness and  receive  His  all-sufficient  grace, 
and  no  wonder  we  become  strong.  Tell  Him 
ail  about  it?  All  about  what?  All  about 
everything.  All  about  your  sin?  Yes,  He'll 
forgive.  All  about  your  temptation?  Yes, 
He'll  strengthen  you  to  overcome.  All  about 
your  failure?  Yes,  He'll  help  you  to  succeed. 
All  about  your  sickness?  Yes,  He'll  heal  your 
48 


Ube  (Browing  Cbtisttan 


disease.  All  about  your  joys?  Yes,  He 
wants  to  share  your  happiness.  That's  what 
real  fellowship  means,  a  sharing  with  each 
other  of  every  concern. 

"Oh,  the  pure  delight  of  a  single  hour 
That  before  Thy  throne  I  spend ; 
When  I  kneel  in  prayer,  and  with  Thee,  my  God, 
I  commune  as  friend  with  friend." 

We  don't  need  to  dwell  upon  the  fact  that 
such  communion  is  conducive  to  growth  in 
grace.  The  delight  of  it  seems  to  make  us 
forget  all  about  the  growing  and  it  is  good  that 
it  should,  for  it  is  not  by  "taking  thought" 
that  we  grow. 

3.  And  now  just  a  word  about  the  other  root 
or  channel  of  grace.  It  is  Exercise^  of  course. 
The  idle  arm  grows  weak ;  the  unused  faculty 
atrophies.  Brother  Lawrence,  who  taught  us 
so  much  about  practicing  the  presence  of  God, 
was  a  very  good  man,  but  he  lost  half  of  his 
saintliness  when  he  made  up  his  mind  to  live 
as  if  there  were  nobody  else  but  God  and  Brother 
Lawrence  in  the  world.  The  monk  in  Long- 
fellow's "Legend  Beautiful"  wanted  to  tarry 
in  his  cell  in  communion  with  his  Lord, 
but  God  told  him  to  go  out  and  feed  the  beg- 
gars. 

44 


f}ow  to  (Brow 


"Should  he  who,  wrapped  in  silent  ecstasy 
Of  divinest  self -surrender, — 
Should  he  slight  his  radiant  guest, 
Slight  this  vision  celestial,  for  a  crowd  of  ragged, 
Bestial  beggars  at  the  convent  gate?" 

And  God  said: 

"Do  thy  duty,  that  is  best; 
Leave  unto  the  Lord  the  rest," 

and  when  he  came  back  the  divine  visitor  said 
he  would  not  have  stayed  had  the  monk  refused 
to  go.  Here  the  thought  comes  out  again, 
If  we  will  but  obey  His  voice  we  can  leave  the 
rest  to  Him.  He  will  attend  to  the  growth 
and  we  would  find  ourselves  growing  more  rap- 
idly if  we  thought  less  about  character  and 
more  about  duty.  If  we  thought vless  about 
being  somebody  and  more  about  doing  some- 
thing for  somebody,  we  would  come  nearer 
being  the  body  the  Lord  wants  us  to  be. 

Dear  child  of  God,  are  you  growing?  Have 
you  got  a  larger  heart  and  a  purer  spirit  than 
you  had  last  year?  Are  you  living  nearer  the 
Master  now  than  then?  Is  your  delight  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord  and  are  you  meditating  therein 
day  and  night?  Are  you  taking  time  to  be  holy 
while  the  world  rushes  on?  Are  you  saying 
each  morning,  *'What  can  I  do  to-day  for 
45 


Uhc  Growing  Cbristian 


Christ?"  We  have  been  considering  the  lilies, 
how  they  grow.  Let  us  then  say:  "My  life  too 
shall  be  one  of  growth,  until  like  the  lily's  pure 
and  unstained  calyx  the  beauty  of  holiness 
shall  crown  it."  And  while  the  lily  dies  we 
shall  go  on  from  beauty  unto  beauty  and  from 
glory  unto  glory,  for  "it  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  we  shall  be." 


46 


"77ie  night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand;  let  us 
therefore  cast  off  the  works  of  darkness  and  let  us 
put  on  the  armour  of  light.  Let  us  walk  honestly  as 
in  the  day;  not  in  rioting  and  drunkenness,  not  in 
impurity  and  wantonness,  not  in  strife  and  envying. 
But  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  no 
PROVISION  FOR  THE  FLESH,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof.''^ 
— St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  Chapter  13. 


48 


Dow  IPlot  to  (Brow 


HOW  XOT  TO  GROW 
"Make  no  provision  for  the  flesh." — Rom.  15.14. 

WE  HAVE  been  considering  the  lilies  o\ 
the  field,  how  they  grow;  we  have 
discovered  that  there  is  a  law  of 
growth,  and  the  same  law — a  continuity  of  the 
law,  the  scientist  would  say — in  both  the 
natural  and  spiritual  world;  we  have  dwelt 
briefly  upon  some  of  the  conditions  of  Christian 
growth  and  I  wonder  if  it  wouldn't  be  well  now 
for  a  while  to  consider  the  Christian,  how  he 
does  not  grotu. 

When  a  plant  is  once  supplied  with  the 
proper  means  of  nourishment  the  chief  concern 
of  the  horticulturist  is  not  an  endeavor  to  make 
it  grow — in  fact,  such  is  not  his  business  at  all 
■ — but  it  is  to  see  that  all  obstacles  to  growth 
are  taken  out  of  the  way  and  everything  eradi- 
cated that  would  in  any  way  hinder  growth, 
thus  making  it  possible  for  the  plant  to  come 
to  perfection  in  its  own  time  and  way.  Every 
living  thing,  in  the  natural  world,  to  thrive 
must  be  fed.  This  is  true  of  plant  life  and  it 
is  true  of  animal  life.  If  it  is  not  fed  it  will  die. 
49 


Zbc  6rowing  Cbrtstiatt 


In  fact  it  will  die  anyhow.  Plant  and  animal 
life  at  the  most  is  but  ephemeral.  The  wiseacres 
tell  US  they  have  all  but  discovered  eternal  life 
such  as  may  endure  with  us  in  the  body.  Yes, 
*' all  but,"  but  who'd  want  such  an  eternal  life  if 
they  did  find  it?  We  are  wont  to  say,  in  fact 
we  said  it  in  the  previous  message,  that  if  the 
proper  environment  be  furnished  it  is  natural 
for  living  organisms  to  live  and  grow ;  without 
controverting  anything  we  there  said,  we  now 
intend  to  state  what  after  all  is  really  true, 
that  in  spite  of  such  nourishment  it  is  natural 
for  such  organism  to  deteriorate  and  die.  As 
another  has  said,  '*We  are  wont  to  imagine 
that  nature  is  full  of  life ;  in  reality  it  is  full  of 
death."  Man  with  all  his  strength  is  but  a 
frail  and  daily  dying  creature. 

But  there  is  something  else  in  man  besides 
the  material.  To  him  of  all  creatures  was 
given  the  privilege,  yea,  rather  the  necessity  of 
living  forever,  in  the  sense  of  existence.  This 
belongs  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  every  man. 
Because  he  is  a  spiritual  being,  he  must  go  on, 
either  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  This  spiritual 
nature  is  by  generation  sinful.  "Man  is  born 
in  sin  and  shapen  in  iniquity. "  He  enters  life 
with  the  sinful  principle  as  sole  controller  of  his 
50 


1bovv  iRot  to  Grow 


being.  This  nature  we  are  accustomed  to  say- 
has  a  deathward  tendency.  This  is  true,  but 
in  a  sense  only, — unless  regenerate,  it  involves 
the  soul  in  spiritual  and  eternal  death,  but 
even  in  the  lost  world  that  nature  itself  is  very 
much  alive  indeed.  We  speak,  as  does  the 
Scriptures,  of  the  unregenerate  as  being  dead; 
and  tliey  are  dead — "She  that  liveth  in  pleasure 
is  dead  while  she  liveth" — although  it  is  im- 
portant to  notice  that  Scripture  nowhere 
teaches  that  the  spiritual  nature  as  just  con- 
ceived is  ever  dead  in  any  man's  life,  save  the 
believer's  in  glory.  You  say,  "How  are  you 
using  that  word,  spiritual?"  In  the  sense  now 
that  all  people,  even  the  devil,  are  spiritual 
beings.  In  fact,  the  biggest  evidence  that  an 
unregenerate  man  is  dead  is  the  liveliness  of 
his  wicked  spiritual  nature. 

This  nature  Paul  calls  the  "old  man."  This 
suggests  the  question  of  the  new  man.  The 
new  man  is  Christ,  and  when  in  regeneration 
the  new  man  enters.  He  brings  His  nature  with 
Him  and  of  course  another  kind  of  life.  "He 
that  hath  the  Son  hath  life."  Every  child  of 
God  has  therefore  two  natures,  an  old  human 
nature  and  a  new  divine  nature. 

Does  regeneration  mean  a  changed  nature? 
61 


Ube  Growing  Cbristian 


Yes,  if  by  nature  is  meant  the  individual,  for 
the  Christian  is  most  certainly  a  changed  man ; 
but  the  matter  will  appear  much  simpler  if  we 
adhere  to  the  Scriptural  representation,  which 
seems  to  be,  not  that  of  a  changed  but  of  an 
added  nature.  Peter  tells  us  in  his  second 
epistle,  the  first  chapter  and  fourth  verse,  that 
we  have  been  *'made  partakers  of  the  divine 
nature." 

I  have  been  pained  to  read  in  a  religious 
journal  that  reaches  more  young  people  than 
any  other  in  the  world,  words  like  these: 

**What  a  glorious  change  from  the  old  life 
into  the  new!  'former  things  have  passed 
away' ;  the  old  nature  with  its  cravings  and  its 
power  is  gone,  for  with  the  new  birth  comes  a 
new  nature  and  he  who  has  experienced  the 
regenerating  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  dead  to 
the  old  nature  just  as  the  butterfly  is  dead  to 
the  grub  nature  that  ruled  it  when  a  cata- 
pillar." 

That  is  not  true,  and  many  a  child  of  God  has 
found  himself  many  times  in  doubt  and  real 
distress  because  he  has  failed  to  appreciate  the 
real  truth  of  the  matter.  Thinking  either  that 
regeneration  meant  instantaneous  death  to  the 
old  nature,  or  that  a  change  was  then  begun 
52 


t)OW  iRot  to  (3tow 


that  meant  a  speedy  eradication  of  that  nature, 
he  is  surprised  to  find  it  manifesting  itself  with 
its  old  lustings  after  evil  when  he  thought  it 
dead  and  gone,  and  unsuspectingly  he  yields 
himself  to  the  subtle  whispering  of  the  evil  one 
that  he  never  was  born  again,  and  discouraged 
abandons  himself  to  sin  or  seeks  another  regen- 
eration, merely  to  go  through  the  same  experi- 
ence, unhappy  himself  and  a  hindrance  to 
others  by  his  weak  and  Christ-dishonoring  life. 
The  truth  is,  the  old  man  continues  to  breathe; 
nor  does  he  sign  a  quit  claim  to  the  soul  when 
the  new  man  enters,  but  a  lively  spiritual  con- 
flict ensues  which  continues  with  some  degree 
of  intensity,  I  am  inclined  to  think — it  does 
with  me — is  the  testimony  of  Scripture  and 
experience,  until  He  shall  come  in  glory  to 
**change  our  vile  body  that  it  may  be  fashioned 
like  unto  his  glorious  body"  (Phil.  3:21). 
What  we  need  is  to  put  on  the  whole  armor  of 
God  and  keep  it  on  and  keep  the  old  man 
under,  as  Paul  did,  through  the  all-conquer- 
ing strength  of  the  new  man,  and  thank  God 
for  a  victory  that's  easy  when  we  do. 

You  now  see  the  difference  between  life  in 
the  natural  world  and  in  the  spiritual — the  one 
is  bound  to  die ;  the  other  is  bound  to  live,  and 
53 


Uhc  Growing  Cbristian 


yet  in  a  sense  the  law  of  death  is  universal,  for 
even  in  the  spiritual  world  the  liveliness  of  the 
old  man  is  but  the  sign  of  a  death  more  real 
than  any  the  natural  world  ever  knew. 

In  order  to  become  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  old  nature,  that  we  may  recognize  it 
and  be  on  our  guard  against  it,  it  might  be  well 
to  see  by  what  other  names  it  is  called.  Paul, 
we  have  seen,  calls  it  the  ''old  man."  We 
also  read  of  it  as  the  "natural  man,"  "the 
flesh,"  and  Paul  identifies  the  flesh  with  him- 
self. He  says,  "In  me,  that  is  in  my  flesh, 
dwelleth  no  good  thing"  (Rom.  7:18). 
*'Flesh,"  says  Mr.  Meyer,  "is  Me-ism." 
Plesh,  as  used  by  Paul,  is  the  element  of  self 
in  a  man,  the  sinful  human  nature,  and  not 
the  material  element  of  the  human  body.  It  is 
the  self-life,  the  carnal  life.  This,  it  has  been 
noted,  inheres  in  the  child  of  God  as  well  as 
in  the  unregenerate,  and  alas!  in  some  of  His 
children  it  predominates  over  the  Christ-life, 
robs  the  soul  of  its  beauty,  and  becomes  to 
them  the  cause  of  much  sorrow  and  spiritual 
darkness. 

Now  you  will  notice  that  while  Paul  calls 
this  element  the  "natural  man,"  he  speaks  of 
the  new  or  divine  nature  as  the  spiritual,  and 
64 


Ibow  IRot  to  Grow 


while  bearing  in  mind  the  previous  discussion 
and  remembering  that  all  men  and  demons 
even  are  spiritual  beings,  it  will  be  best  here- 
after to  observe  Paul's  distinction,  for  in  a  very 
distinct  sense  he  only  is  spiritual  who  has  the 
Spirit  of  God  indwelling  and  filling  him. 

Now  we  have  already  seen  that  life,  in  order 
to  growth,  must  be  nourished.  Each  nature 
craves  its  own  peculiar  diet.  I  stood  in  a  dark 
cellar  the  other  day  where  some  potatoes  had 
been  poured  upon  the  floor,  and  although  old 
and  shriveled  the  life  was  still  there  and  across 
the  floor  during  a  portion  of  the  day  the  sun 
threw  a  heavy  ray  of  its  life-giving  light  and 
every  sprout  was  creeping  in  that  direction  to 
bathe  itself  in  its  life-giving  element. 

A  luxuriant  growth  or  a  healthy  organ  is 
conditioned  wholly  by  a  correspondence  with 
proper  environment.  Do  you  want  the  Christ- 
life,  the  new  man,  to  flourish?  We  have  seen 
some  of  the  conditions  of  such  growth.  Or  do 
you  want  the  self -life,  the  old  man,  to  thrive? 
Then  simply  see  that  his  appetites  are  satisfied. 
But  let  us  see  what  Paul  says  about  it.  In  the 
13th  chapter  of  Romans  and  the  14th  verse  he 
says,  "But  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
make  no  provision  for  the  fleshy  to  fulfill  the  lusts 
55 


Ube  GrowtnG  Cbristlan 


thereof."  The  old  man  is  a  determined  char- 
acter and  purposes  to  control  the  reins  of  every 
believer's  being  and  Paul  seems  to  be  clearly 
decided  that  there  is  but  one  avenue  of  escape, 
one  preventive  against  the  successes  of  his 
undertaking,  and  that  is  starvation.  "Make 
no  provision  for  the  flesh  to  gratify  the  appe- 
tites thereof."  In  the  original,  that  means,  "If 
you  know  what  he  likes,  don't  give  him  any  of 
it."  Is  it  any  wonder  we  have  so  many  dwarfs 
in  the  Christian  life,  people  who  have  passed 
from  death  unto  life  and  then  have  left  the 
spiritual  nature  to  starve,  while  the  life  that 
ought  to  be  devoted  to  its  culture  is  consumed 
in  ministering  to  the  flesh. 

Some  time  ago  a  poor  woman  who  lived  in  a 
basement  room  in  New  York  City  was  missed 
for  several  days,  and  when  her  neighbors 
knocked  at  her  door  they  found  it  locked  and 
upon  prying  it  open  they  saw  the  woman  lying 
on  the  floor  with  the  life  of  her  body  slowly 
ebbing  away.  There  was  neither  fire,  nor  fuel, 
nor  furniture,  nor  food  in  the  place,  and  there 
in  that  great  city  of  so  much  wealth  she  was 
slowly  starving  to  death.  You  say  that  was 
very  sad.  Yes,  but  I  can  tell  you  something 
sadder  than  that.  It's  sometimes  pretty  hard 
56 


1bo\v  mot  to  Grow 


for  a  poor  woman  to  get  enough  bread  for  the 
body,  but  there  are  those  in  whose  soul  the  life 
of  God  exists  and  though  surrounded  with 
every  provision  for  its  health  they  are  making 
provision  for  the  flesh  only,  and  if  you  could 
pry  open  the  door  of  that  inner  house  where 
the  soul  is  and  there  see  what  God  sees  you 
would  find  a  heart  without  prayer  or  love, 
vrith  but  little  faith  and  flickering  hope  and 
in  it  a  soul  that  is  starving  for  the  bread  of 
life.  Dear  child,  which  nature  are  you  nour- 
ishing? What  are  the  strongest  things  in  your 
life,  the  spiritual  or  the  natural;  Christ  or  the 
world?    • 

Now  I'm  not  going  to  enumerate  for  you 
those  things  upon  which  the  self-life  thrives. 
If  I  did,  I'd  never  get  through.  Paul  began  it 
once,  and  as  if  it  were  a  hopeless  task,  he  fin- 
ished up  with  an  "et  cetera."  After  telling 
the  Galatian  Christians  how  they  might  be  kept 
from  fulfilling  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  he  begins 
to  enumerate  some  of  those  things  in  which  the 
self-life  delights.  It's  an  awful  list  of  ugly 
sins,  and  if  we  were  to  fill  out  the  "and  such 
like"  with  which  he  ends  we  would  find  it  to 
include  a  good  many  not  so  ugly  and  some  in 
fact,  which  many,  at  least  nominal  Christians, 
57 


Ubc  Growing  Cbrtstian 


have  deemed  altogether  harmless.  Eead  the 
list  for  yourself  and  then  out  of  your  own 
experience  see  if  you  can  in  any  wise  fill  up 
the  "and  such  like."  Possibly  some  sorrow 
has  come  into  your  life,  and  not  able  to  under- 
stand the  ministry  of  affliction  you've  been 
living  with  a  bitter  feeling '  toward  God.  The 
evil  one  has  whispered  to  you  that  God  has  been 
unkind,  and  although  you've  read  Eomans 
8:28  you've  preferred  to  listen  to  the  subtle 
whisperings  of  the  enemy  and  you  are 
feeding  the  old  man  to-day  because  you  are 
failing  to  trust  God  who  has  been  kind  and 
loving  if  you  only  understood.  Possibly 
it  was  the  rising  of  an  angry  passion  and  you 
let  your  temper  slip,  and  you've  known  all 
these  days  and  weeks  and  months  and  years 
that  you  ought  to  ask  the  other's  pardon,  but 
your  pride  has  been  in  the  way  and  you  haven't 
done  it  and  you've  been  feeding  the  self -life  all 
this  while.  There  has  come  into  your  life  a 
question  about  the  rightness  or  wrongness  of 
certain  things  and  you  have  continued  to  do 
them,  though  doubtful  about  their  legitimacy 
or  propriety.  But  Paul  says,  "Whatsoever  is 
not  of  faith  is  sin."  If  there  is  any  practice 
in  my  life  concerning  which.  I  am  in  doubt, 
68 


Ibow  IRot  to  (Brow 


until  that  doubt  shall  have  disappeared,  it  is 
mj  solemn  duty  to  put  it  away  until  God  tells 
me  unmistakably  that  I  may  take  it  up  again; 
and  if  I  am  continuing  in  that  which  is  not  of 
faith  but  of  doubt,  I  am  feeding  the  carnal 
nature  and  not  the  divine.  You  were  reading 
a  novel  that  the  world  had  gone  mad  over,  and 
as  you  read  there  came  stealing  into  your  mind 
unholy  visions  and  something,  or  somebody 
rather,  for  it  was  the  Holy  Spirit,  told  you  to 
lay  it  aside  for  it  was  not  wholesome  for  a  pure 
hearted  child,  but  it  was  fascinating  and  you 
continued  to  the  end.  You  were  making  pro- 
vision for  the  flesh.  I  could  tell  you  more 
about  a  certain  man,  but  this  much  by  way  of 
illustration:  He  was  purchasing  a  pair  of 
shoes.  After  one  or  two  of  plainer  style  the 
dealer  fitted  a  most  handsome  pair  upon  him. 
They  were  comfortable  and  beautiful,  but  as 
the  man  put  his  foot  out  with  the  shoe  upon 
it,  he  discovered  something  and  he  said,  ''Harry 
Field,  you  can't  have  that  shoe."  It  was  not 
in  the  shoe,  but  in  himself  the  something  was 
discovered.  It  would  have  been  all  right  for  you 
possibly  to  wear  that  shoe,  but  it  would  have 
been  all  wrong  for  him  to  wear  it.  It  may 
seem  a  little  thing  but  it  was  infinitely  better 
59 


Zbc  OvovoirxQ  Cbristtan 


for  him  to  wear  the  plainer  pair  than  to  make 
provision  for  the  self -life  every  time  he  saw  the 
finer  pair  upon  his  feet. 

Dear  child  of  God,  which  nature  are  you 
nourishing?  What  is  it  in  your  life  that  is 
withering  and  blasting  a  character  that  other- 
wise might  be  strong  and  beautiful  and  lovely? 
I  beg  of  you  in  God's  name,  Put  it  away! 
For  although  it  may  seem  a  little  thing  it  is 
nourishing  a  carnal  growth  that  will  hinder 
your  spiritual  development  and  make  your  life 
but  a  poor  excuse  for  what  God  would  have  you 
be.  Of  one  thing  you  may  be  sure.  Every- 
thing that  ministers  to  the  self -life  is  wrong  for 
the  child  of  God,  and  upon  all  that  carnality 
mentioned  by  Paul,  upon  all  that  reviewed  a 
moment  ago  and  upon  many  things  else  under 
certain  conditions  you  can  write  that  one  little 
and  woe-entailing  word  of  three  letters  and 
know  that  whatever  is  hindering  the  growth  of 
your  soul  into  the  fullness  of  the  measure  of 
God's  thought  for  you,  it  is  si7i.  Sin  is  the 
worm  in  the  heart  of  the  tree — the  sturdy  oak 
that  defied  the  wind  and  the  winter's  blast, 
but  whose  leaves  withered  and  whose  branches 
dropped  off  and  whose  roots  dried  up  when  it 
gave  that  little  worm  a  place  in  its  heart.  Child, 
60 


Ibow  Boi  to  ©row 


what  is  it  that  is  spoiling  your  life?   Put  it  away. 

But  now  some  one  says:  *'The  old  man  is  so 
strong  within  me,  how  can  I  suhdue  him?  I've 
nourished  him  so  long  that  he  has  become  my 
master.  His  lustings  are  so  strong  and  his 
cravings  so  fierce  it  is  so  very  hard  to  deny 
them.  x\nd  then  you  spoke  about  starvation, 
which  seems  to  imply  a  gradual  process.  Can 
I  not  have  release  at  once,  or  must  I  wait  the 
long  years  through?"  Yes,  child,  you  must 
wait  the  long  years  through.  Do  not  misun- 
derstand me;  I  am  not  speaking  of  what  God 
can  or  cannot  do,  but  what  the  Word  and 
universal  experience  proves  He  does  do.  Sanc- 
tification,  whatever  else  it  is  not,  is  progressive. 
It  is  possible  to  be  kept,  if  you  will,  from 
known  sin,  and  yet  sin  is  possibly  more  than 
you  have  recognized,  and  if  you  could  see  with 
the  vision  of  God,  in  spite  of  all  your  sanctifi- 
cation,  you  might  abhor  yourself  in  dust  and 
ashes;  and  it  is  yet  possible  that  after  your 
attainment  unto  what  you  thought  the  highest 
possible  excellence,  there  will  still  await  you  in 
years  to  come  the  vision  of  something  wrong 
which  now  you  permit  as  right. 

But  let  us  see  if  we  cannot  learn  something 
more  of  what  Paul  means  by  "making  no  pro- 
61 


Ube  (Browing  dbvistian 


vision   for   the   flesh."      Four   words   will,   I 
think,  help  us  in  this  matter. 

1.  Crucifixion.  Gal.  5:24.  *'They  that  are 
Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  its  pas- 
sions and  lusts."  Notice,  the  verb  is  in  the 
aorist,  the  past  tense,  and  it  is  spoken  of  them 
that  are  Christ's.  Now  when  did  you  crucify 
your  flesh?  Why,  evidently  when  the  blessed 
Christ  Himself,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh, 
was  nailed  to  the  cross ;  and  so  throughout  the 
epistles  the  Christian  is  ideally  considered  as 
one  who  is  dead  and  he  is  told  in  Eom.  6 :11  to 
**likewise"  reckon  himself  dead  indeed  unto 
sin.  "Likewise."  Like  what?  Why,  just  as 
Christ  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  was  cruci- 
fied, so  I  being  in  union  with  Him  was  nailed 
there  too  and  my  self-life  has  been  fixed  to  the 
cross.  In  this  sense  the  self -life  is  dead.  I 
dragged  it  there  and  drove  the  nail  and  said, 
"Thou  shalt  forever  die."  Between  me  and 
that  old  man  with  his  lustings  and  his  jeal- 
ousies and  all  his  carnal  cravings  now  stands 
the  cross  and  I  am  henceforth  to  stand  fast  in 
the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  me 
free.  Oh,  you  who  have  crucified  the  flesh — 
and  you  have  if  you  are  Christ's — think  of  it. 
It  will  help  you.  Eeckon  yourselves  dead. 
63 


1bow  1Flot  to  Grow 


Look  upon  those  precious  wounds  and  then 
into  His  dear  face  and  say,  "My  Christ,  when 
you  died,  I  died!"  and,  *'How  shall  I  -that  am 
dead  unto  sin  live  any  longer  therein?" 

But  you  say,  "I  must  have  something  more." 
Yes,  indeed  you  must.  For  you  say,  "I  find 
the  old  man  obtruding  himself  and  the  lustings 
of  his  nature  within  me  in  spite  of  what  I  will 
should  be  his  utter  destruction."  This  brings 
us  to  the  second  word. 

2.  Mortification.  Eom.  8:13.  "If  ye 
through  the  Spirit  do  mortify  the  deeds  of  the 
body  ye  shall  live."  Here  is  the  flesh  in  the 
believer  recognized  as  alive.  To  mortify,  liter- 
ally means  "to  cause  to  decay,"  and  unlike 
crucifixion,  which  is  more  of  an  act,  this  word 
has  in  it  the  idea  of  process.  It  is  certainly 
true  that  we  are  to  deal  with  our  dispositions 
summarily.  "Let  him  that  stole  steal  no 
more."  If  the  eye  offends  it  is  to  be  plucked 
out ;  if  it  is  the  hand,  it  is  to  be  cut  off.  But 
suppose  one  has  a  fever?  The  surgeon's  knife  is 
useless  here.  We  are  now  considering  sin  as  a 
vicious  organism  and  are  dealing  with  its  appe- 
tites, and  there  must  be  administered  an  inner 
antiseptic.  In  other  words,  to  become  perfect 
at  once  is  a  simple  impossibility.  And  what  is 
63 


tTbe  (Browtno  Cbdstlan 


that  antiseptic?  Eead  the  verse  again.  *'If  ye 
through  the  Spirit  do  mortify" — it  is  the 
blessed  Spirit  of  Jesus,  the  Holy  Spirit  indwell- 
ing and  infilling,  that  lusteth  against  the  flesh, 
despoils  the  old  man  of  his  power  and  subdues 
the  self-life  while  the  Christ-life  goes  on  to  yic- 
tory  and  to  beauty.  But  I  know  some  of  you 
are  asking:  "Must  I,  in  order  to  my  spiritual 
growth,  always  have  my  attention  applied  to 
that  which  is  diseased  and  repulsive?  Does 
making  no  provision  for  the  flesh  mean  that  I 
must  be  forever  dealing  with  the  flesh?"  Our 
third  word  will  help  us  here. 

3.  Transformation.  2  Cor.  3:18.  "Behold- 
ing as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord  we  are 
changed  (transformed)  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord."  How  is  growth  into  Christlikeness 
produced?  Not  by  morbid  self-analysis  and 
perpetual  anxiety  about  this  inner  devitiliza- 
tion  of  the  flesh  that  is  going  on.  This  would 
be  to  rob  one's  experience  of  all  its  sweetness; 
but  by  beholding  the  beauty  of  Him.  We 
must  remember  the  lesson  of  the  lily.  And 
will  you  notice  that  as  the  mortification  was 
through  the  Spirit  so  also  is  the  transformation 
"by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord."  Speaking  of  the 
64 


Ibow  to  Grow 


Holy  Spirit,  Jesus  said,  "He  shall  glorify  me," 
and  this  process  of  the  disintegration  of  the 
flesh  and  transformation  of  the  soul.  He  carries 
on  by  revealing  Jesiis  unto  us,  and  while  you 
are  beholding  Him  and  so  knowing  Him  more 
intimately  and  therefore  loving  Him  more 
dearly,  self  dies  and  Christ  lives  within. 

And  now  you  say:  *'This  is  glorious;  such  an 
experience  I  covet.  Will  the  Holy  Spirit  do 
this  for  me?"  This  brings  us  to  the  last 
word. 

4.  Dedication.  While  I  believe  growth  is 
gradual,  there  is  a  condition  or  position  of  the 
soul  conducive  to  its  health  and  therefore  to 
its  acceleration,  and  into  this  position  I  believe 
we  may  and  ought  to  come  at  once  and  in  a 
definite  way.  That  is  the  position  of  the  sur- 
rendered life.  Dedicating  myself  to  God  and 
saying:  "Blessed  indwelling  Spirit  of  Christ, 
fill  me  and  let  the  filling  be  deep :  I  want  to 
be  just  as  much  like  Jesus  as  it  is  possible  for 
man  to  be.  I  do  give  myself  to  Thee — rule 
my  entire  being,  subdue  and  cast  out  and  lead 
me  in  the  way  of  life  and  beauty  and  power." 


65 


*'/  am  the  true  vine,  and  my  Father  is  the  huaband- 
man.  Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not 
FRUIT  He  taketh  away  :  and  every  branch  that 
beareth  fruit,  He  purgeth  it,  that  it  may  bring 
FORTH  MORE  FRUIT.  Now  ye  are  clean  through  the 
word  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you.  Abide  in  me, 
and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch  cannot  hear  fruit  of 
itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine;  no  more  can  ye  ex- 
cept ye  abide  in  me.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the 
branches*.  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the 
same  bringcth  forth  much  fruit:  for  without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing.  If  a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast 
forth  as  a  branch,  and  is  withered;  and  men  gather 
them,  and  cast  them  into  the  fire,  and  they  are  burned. 
If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall 
ask  what  ye  will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you. 
Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much 
fruit;  so  shall  ye  be  my  disciples.'^ — St.  John's  Gos- 
pel, Chapter  15. 


66 


arrested  H)evelopment 


ARRESTED  DEVELOPMENT  AND 
SPIRITUAL  DWARF  AGE 

"Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit  He 
taketh  away :  and  every  branch  that  beareth  fruit 
He  purgeth  it  that  it  may  bring  forth  more  fruit." 
—John  15:2. 

HOWEVER  much  the  evolutionists  have 
disagreed  with  the  more  conservative 
thinkers  they  have  agreed  among  them- 
selves that  in  the  production  of  man  a  sentence 
of  suspension  has  been  written  upon  the  law  of 
development  in  the  physical  realm.  Man  as 
an  animal  is  God's  noblest  work  in  the  phys- 
ical universe. 

But  if  what  science  tells  us  is  true,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  many  of  his  powers  have  not 
only  been  arrested  in  development  but  have 
actually  deteriorated  from  what  they  once 
were.  Yet  how  little  is  the  sadness  connected 
with  such  a  thought  to  be  compared  with  that 
sadness  which  comes  from  the  thought  of  the 
arrested  development  of  a  human  soul. 

In  many  respects  other  animals  surpass  man ; 
the  horse  is  stronger,  the  deer  is  fleeter,  the 
eagle  can  see  farther,  while  man's  sense  of  smell 
67 


Z\^c  Gxovoim  Cf3ri5tian 


and  sound  is  almost  as  nothing  in  comparison 
with  many  of  the  lower  vertebrata.  But  though 
all  this  IS  true  man  is  more  than  compensated 
by  additional  and  higher  powers.  Man  is  an 
intelligence  and  if  he  cannot  run  with  the  deer 
he  can  reach  him  with  the  bullet;  if  he  cannot 
see  with  the  eagle  he  can  surpass  the  eagle's 
eye  with  the  telescope  or  the  microscope ;  if  he 
is  weaker  than  a  horse  he  can  control  the  beast 
with  a  bit  and  bridle ;  but  what  of  all  that  ever 
comes  to  man  can  be  of  any  compensation  or 
comfort  for  a  dwarfed  and  degenerated  soul? 

I  have  seen  people  whose '  bodies  have  had  a 
stunted  growth  and  we  call  them  dwarfs,  and 
I  have  thought  that  were  not  so  hard  to  bear, 
but  oh,  to  have  a  dwarfed  soul !  And  there  is 
even  something  sadder  than  that — to  watch 
the  waning  of  the  faculties;  to  have  the  vision 
grow  dimmer,  the  sound  grow  fainter,  nay,  but 
worse,  even  to  have  the  mind  grow  weaker! 
Yes,  I  could  even  think  of  my  body  shrinking 
in  stature  from  year  to  year,  and  terrible  as 
such  a  thing  would  be,  I  think  I  might  even 
bear  that.  But  oh,  to  have  a  mind  that  is 
slowly  forgetting  God,  a  character  that  is  slowly 
losing  its  beauty,  a  spirit  that  is  losing  its 
glory,  a  heart  that  is  losing  its  love,  a  soul  that 
68 


Hrre5te^  Development 


is  smaller  now  than  it  was  a  year  ago,  is  a 
thought  that  makes  one  shudder! 

Look  now  at  the  text  we  have  chosen.  Two 
things  are  written  there : 

(1)  Every  branch  that  heareth  fruit  the  Father 
purgeth  that  it  may  bear  more  fruit,  and  (2) 
every  branch  that  bearcth  not  fruit  He  taketh 
away.  Notice  for  a  moment  the  fruit-bearing 
branch.  What  a  restful  thought;  no  worrying 
about  the  fruit;  no  responsibility,  except  just 
to  keep  in  close  touch,  to  abide  in  the  vine  and 
receive  its  life,  which  in  the  very  nature  of 
things  must  bear  fruit  of  itself.  If  we  would 
only  appreciate  this  thought  of  our  own  noth- 
ingness and  our  utter  and  necessary  dependence 
upon  the  vine,  I  am  sure  that  everything  would 
come  right  in  every  moment  of  our  life. 

And  now  about  the  purging.  It  is  the  vine- 
dresser's process  of  pruning  his  vines,  with 
which  I  presume  all  are  familiar.  There  are 
certain  parts  of  the  plant  that  must  be  cut 
away  in  order  to  its  best  development  from  a 
fruit-bearing  standpoint.  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  superfluous  growth,  because  it  is 
growth  in  the  wrong  direction — the  suckers 
that  grow  on  the  farmer's  corn,  the  water 
sprouts  that  shoot  out  from  the  stem  of  a  treo 


Zhc  Grovvino  Cbristtan 


and  consume  the  sap  that  ought  to  go  on  to 
feed  the  ripening  fruit.  And  so  with  the 
vines,  many  of  the  branches,  the  same  in 
nature  with  the  vine,  run  to  wood  and  leaves 
and  are  not  only  worthless  in  themselves  but 
hindrances  to  other  branches  that  are  growing 
fruit.  So  far  as  leafage  and  appearances  go 
such  branches  may  seem  quite  as  promising  as 
any,  but  a  little  inspection  will  prove  them  to 
be  wasting  the  life  of  the  vine  in  a  mere 
tendency  to  size,  and  often  when  they  seem  to 
be  doing  grandly  the  vinedresser's  knife  is 
ruthlessly  applied  and  the  fine  appearance  is 
cut  away  just  because  it  is  a  cumbrance  to  the 
vine  and  cast  aside  to  wither  and  be  burned. 

Just  so  it  is  in  the  spiritual  world ;  there  can 
be  little  fruitfulness  without  the  use  of  the 
sharp  knife.  You  will  notice  that  it  is  the 
branch  that  is  bearing  a  little  fruit  that  is 
purged  of  its  worthless  parts  that  it  may  bear 
more  fruit.  In  order  to  the  richest  growth  in 
grace  and  best  results  in  Christian  experience 
there  must  be  the  cutting  off  of  every  encum- 
bering growth  and  the  purging  away  of  all  that 
is  unholy  in  the  life. 

But  as  the  sprout  cut  away  is  only  a  hin- 
drance and  not  essentially  different  from  the 
70 


arrested  Development 


branch  it  is  forced  to  leave,  how  appropriate,  in 
closest  keeping  with  the  analogy,  to  use  this 
Scripture  in  the  first  place  with  a  reference  to 
those  things  which  might  be  deemed  lawful 
but  by  hosts  of  earnest  Christians  are  consid- 
ered questionable.  Paul,  speaking  of  such 
things  said,  in  1  Cor.  6:12,  **A11  things  are 
lawful  unto  me  but  all  things  are  not  expedi- 
ent." And  why  not  expedient?  To  this  Paul 
gives  the  most  thorough  answer,  answering  it 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  man's  God,  of  his 
neighbor  and  of  himself. 

1.  As  concerns  God.  1  Cor.  10:31.  Inex- 
pedient because  of  the  danger  of  misrepresent- 
ing Him.  By  such  indulgence  we  often  sanc- 
tion a  tone  of  Christianity  lower  than  His 
approval  warrants,  and  thus  we  are  injuring 
Him  and  the  cause  that  is  dear  to  Him.  Con- 
cerning the  eating  of  questionable  meats,  a 
subject  of  discussion  in  his  day,  Paul  closed 
his  advice  by  saying,  "Whether  ye  eat  or  drink 
or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God."  If  you  can  conscientiously  ask  God*s 
blessing  on  your  undertaking  and  His  presence 
to  attend  you  as  you  enter  upon  it,  such  a  thing 
may  be  deemed  right  for  you  to  do,  but  unless 
in  that  pleasure  or  that  business  the  Holy 
71 


XTbe  GrowtnG  CbrtBttan 


Spirit  can  glorify  Jesus  it  is  wrong  for  you  to 
participate.  Do  you  call  that  narrow?  I  call 
it  exceedingly  broad.  It  is  possible  to  become 
an  instrument  of  unrighteousness  in  any  amuse- 
ment, even  though  most  innocent,  but  there  is 
a  wide  range  of  pleasure  in  which,  when 
entered  upon  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  the  very 
beauty  and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  will  be 
manifested  to  the  world.  In  any  undertaking 
I  should  first  want  to  know,  "Will  this  please 
God?"  Calling  upon  one  of  his  parishioners  a 
certain  pastor  inquired  concerning  the  daughter 
who  was  away  at  college,  and  the  mother  said, 
*'I  was  just  reading  a  letter  from  her  as  you 
came  in;  part  of  it  will  interest  you."  And 
she  read  a  part  of  it  where  the  daughter  was 
telling  her  mother  of  a  dance  that  was  to  be 
given  by  her  class ;  all  her  friends  were  going 
and  she  wanted  to  go  herself  very  much 
indeed,  but  she  knew  her  mother  did  not 
approve  of  it  and  for  her  sake  she  was  going  to 
stay  away,  "Well,"  remarked  the  pastor, 
"that's  very  beautiful  of  her  indeed;  you  must 
love  her  very  much."  "Love  her!"  replied 
the  mother,  as  a  tear  came  into  her  eye,  "I 
wish  she  was  here  now,  that  I  might  put  my 
arms  around  her  and  tell  her  how  much  I  love 
7^ 


Hrrestet)  Development 


her."  In  some  such  way  as  that  I  would  like 
God  to  feel  toward  me,  and  I  am  sure  He  will 
if  I  am  trying  to  walk  "worthy  of  the  Lord 
unto  all  pleasing." 

2.  As  concerns  our  neighbor.  1  Cor.  8:9. 
Inexpedient  says  Paul,  "lest  by  any  means  my 
liberty  becomes  a  stumbling  block  to  them  that 
are  weak."  We  all  know  what  that  means. 
Although  I  might  engage  in  this  thing  without 
any  harm  to  myself,  I  am  making  it  possible 
for  others  to  do  it  who  are  not  so  discerning  or 
self-controlled  as  I.  I  will  not  do  that  which 
may  bring  ruin  to  another.  "Destroy  not 
with  thy  meat  him  for  whom  Christ  died,"  says 
Paul.  Said  a  young  man  who  had  inherited  a 
passion  for  liquor:  "I  came  near  breaking  my 
pledge  last  night.  The  smell  of  wine  was  so 
tempting  that  I  could  hardly  resist  it,  but  just 

as  I  was  about  to  yield  I  heard  Miss 

refuse.  This  gave  me  courage.  I  watched 
her  all  evening  and  said  to  myself,  'If  she 
drinks,  I  will.'  I  was  hoping  and  yet  fearing 
that  she  would,  but  as  often  as  she  was  asked 
she  declined  and  so  all  unconscious  to  herself 
she  pulled  me  safely  through."  What  a  pity 
had  that  young  lady  been  without  conviction 
concerning  the  use  of  intoxicants  in  society. 

7a 


Zbc  Growing  Cbrtsttan 


If  by  any  sacrifice  that  I  can  make  I  can  save 
my  weaker  brother,  then  I  want  to  be  big 
enough,  I  want  to  be  unselfish  enough  to  save 
him  by  my  self-denial.  Don't  you?  It's  not 
so  much  a  question  of  inherent  rightness  or 
wrongness  as  it  is  a  question  of  how  big  or 
how  little  you  are  going  to  be. 

3.  As  concerns  myself;  and  this  is  more 
to  the  point  in  keeping  with  the  analogy. 
(a)  1  Cor.  6 :12.  Inexpedient,  says  Paul,  are  some 
things,  *'lest  I  be  brought  under  their  power." 
*'0h,"  said  a  man,  when  cautioned  against  the 
use  of  morphine,^'!  take  but  little  at  a  time 
and  can  stop  when  I  choose."  "Suppose  you 
try  for  six  months,"  said  his  friend.  At  the 
end  of  six  months,  after  the  fiercest  struggle  of 
his  life,  he  thanked  his  friend  for  his  advice 
and  confessed  that  he  did  not  realize  how 
greatly  the  habit  held  him  under  its  control. 
When  once  under  the  power  of  a  thing,  no 
matter  what  it  is,  that  thing  for  you  is  an  evil 
in  your  life. 

(h)  1  Cor.  10:23.  Inexpedient,  says  Paul, 
**because  they  do  not  edify."  While  the  pri- 
mary reference  is  here  doubtless  to  the  edifica- 
tion of  others,  it  is  equally  and  even  more  true 
of  the  one  who  engages  in  them.  And  this  is 
74 


Hrreste^  Development 


what  we  have  had  especially  in  mind  from  the 
beginning — they  hinder  growth  and  fill  the 
church  with  barren,  fruitless  lives. 

A  prominent  Christian  worker  once  said,  "I 
never  knew  a  Christian  that  began  to  dance 
who  was  not  soon  missed  from  the  prayer-meet- 
ing." Having  loved  this  present  world, 
Demas-like,  they  soon  forsake  the  things  of 
God.  It  seems  there  is  an  incompatibility 
between  the  two  which  experience  seems  to 
prove  will  not  abide  each  other.  Such  Chris- 
tians have  lost  their  flavor;  their  fruit  has  been 
drying  up ,  something  has  been  stealing  away 
their  strength  and  if  the  pruning  process  is 
not  soon  begun  something  serious  vfill  occur. 
And  then  say  what  we  will,  the  lovely  charac- 
ters of  this  world,  in  whose  lives  the  very 
beauty  and  gentleness  of  Jesus  have  shone  with 
resplendent  glory,  have  not  been  those  whose 
chief  sources  of  amusement  were  found  in  the 
giddy,  venturesome  circle  of  a  Christ-ignoring 
world. 

Dr.  Parkhurst's  rule  is  a  good  one.  Listen 
to  it:  "The  prime  question  in  allowing  myself 
any  indulgence  is  whether  such  indulgence  in 
any  way  unfits  me  to  be  a  Christian  in  my 
thoughts,   deeds  and    devotions;    whether    I 


XTbe  Growing  Cbrtsttan 


return  with  an  eye  just  as  quick  to  detect  the 
divine  presence  and  a  heart  that  just  as 
promptly  and  sensitively  feels  the  helpful 
strength  issuing  from  the  pages  of  God's 
Word;  whether  the  diversion  helps  to  open  or 
tends  to  close  the  closet  of  prayer  and  whether 
it  tends  to  fill  or  clip  the  wings  of  my  devo- 
tion." 

(c)  Romans  14:  23.  And  then  as  if  our  duty 
concerning  such  matters  might  not  in  some 
particular  instance  be  sufficiently  plain,  even 
with  such  guiding  principles  before  us,  Paul 
sets  forth  a  simple  direction  that  will  always 
point  a  man  to  the  right  side  if  he  has  the  least 
desire  to  do  the  will  of  God.  He  says,  "If  you 
doubt,  don't  do  it."  "Whatever  is  not  of  faith 
is  sin."  I  had  preached  a  sermon  on  consecra- 
tion and  had  quoted  those  lines  of  Miss  Haver- 
gaPs,  "Take  my  silver  and  my  gold,  not  a  mite 
would  I  withhold,"  and  the  next  day  a  letter 
was  received  from  a  good  and  well-meaning 
Christian  woman  telling  of  help  received  from 
the  sermon,  but  saying  she  hoped  she  would 
next  see  me  without  the  gold  cuff -buttons  I  was 
wearing.  Well,  the  gold  cuff-buttons  did  not 
seem  to  be  wrong  for  me,  but  I  can  conceive  of  a 
condition  of  mind  where  they  would  be  wrong. 
76 


Brrestet)  Development 


A  lady  came  to  me  really  in  great  perplexity  of 
mind  concerning  her  sealskin  coat.  "Is  it  wrong 
for  me  to  wear  it?"  she  asked.  "Yes,"  I  said; 
"wrong  for  you."  "And  why  for  me?"  she 
said.  "Because,"  said  I,  "of  the  question  in 
your  own  mind."  It  is  so  with  amusements; 
the  minute  a  doubt  comes  into  your  mind 
about  their  inherent  wrong  or  about  their  expe- 
diency put  them  out  of  your  life ;  in  time  they 
may  become  right  again  because  the  doubt  has 
disappeared,  but  "he  that  doubteth,"  says 
Paul,  speaking  of  questionable  moats,  "is  con- 
demned if  he  eat." 

But  the  question  with  us  thus  far  has  not 
been  so  much  one  of  wrongness  but  of  inexpe- 
diency, not  alone  because  such  things  are  so 
often  the  means  of  injury  to  others,  but  also 
of  keeping  that  which  is  higher  and  holier  out 
of  our  own  lives.  If  such  things  stand  between 
you  and  your  God,  between  you  and  the  beauty 
of  holiness,  then  heaven  itself  can  witness  no 
nobler  sight  than  to  see  you  resolutely  and 
calmly  divest  yourself  of  these  lower  things  that 
you  may  be  clothed  upon  with  the  higher. 

You  tell  me  it  is  hard  to  part  with  so  much 
that  has  really  become  a  part  of  your  life. 
Yes,  but  there  is  to  be  no  loss  except  for  gain. 
77 


Ube  Gvowino  Cbtistian 


What  was  it  the  poet  told  lis  about  reaching 
higher  things  upon  stepping  stones  manufac- 
tured out  of  our  own  dead  selves? 

As  the  husbandman  comes  into  the  vineyard 
with  his  keen  sharp  instrument  the  apparently 
flourishing  vine  shrinks  and  says,  "Why  must 
I  give  up  this  beautiful  leafage,  this  luxuriant 
growth  in  which  I  so  much  delight?"  And 
the  vinedresser  replies  to  the  vine  and  says, 
"This  rank  growth  is  not  only  superfluous  but 
it  will  hinder  your  fruitfulness,  and  unless  you 
allow  it  to  be  cut  away  you  will  be  found  in 
tiino  a  barren  and  worthless  vine  fit  only  to  be 
cut  down  and  consumed  in  the  fire";  and  then 
the  sharp  knife  begins  its  ratbless  work  and 
though  the  vine  bleeds  for  a  while  the  vintage 
always  justifies  the  separation. 

Let  us  not  shrink  from  this  cutting  away. 
Let  us  say;  "Come,  0  Thou  Spirit  of  the 
beautiful  Christ,  Thou  knowest  what  is  best ; 
in  Thy  hands  we  place  our  lives;  make  them 
beautiful  in  Thy  sight,  and  as  Thou  hast  made 
us  free  to  act,  tell  us  what  to  do,  which  way 
Thou  wouldst  have  us  go,  what  Thou  would st 
have  us  surrender  and  by  Thy  grace  which 
Thou  dost  freely  give  we  will  do  it  all";  and 
that  will  be  the  hour. 

78 


Brresteb  Development 


"When  the  tree  of  life  will  burst  into  flower, 
And  rain  at  our  feet  a  glorious  dower 
Of  something  grander  than  ever  we  knew." 

But  the  purging  process  does  not  end  with 
merel}^  questionable  things.  As  the  vine  must 
be  cleansed  of  all  plant-devouring  insects,  and 
all  parasitical  growths  that  twine  themselves 
about  the  vine  and  suck  its  very  life  away,  and 
of  the  little  worm  that  bores  its  way  into  the 
very  heart,  so  also  is  it  true  of  the  Christian. 
Alas !  that  so  many  harbor  some  secret  sin  in 
their  heart — it  may  be  only  a  little  one  as  they 
think,  but  it  is  eating  out  their  very  life  and 
making  it  barren  of  all  that  is  pleasing  to  God. 
Have  you  such  a  sin?  Put  it  away,  and  see 
what  God  will  do  for  you.  You  have  doubt- 
less read  of  Mammoud  who  destroyed  a  costly 
idol  he  was  tempted  to  spare,  and  how  when 
he  struck  it,  it  was  hollow  and  bursting  rained 
at  his  feet  a  whole  shower  of  diamonds  and 
precious  stones.  It  will  be  so  with  you. 
Trench  has  written  about  it  in  his  poetry: 

"Thou,  too.  heaven's  commissioned  warrior  to  cast 

down  each  idol  throne 
In  thy  heart's  profaned  temple,  make  this  faithful 
deed  thine  own. 
Let  descend  the  faithful  blow ; 
79 


XTbe  GtowtnG  Cbrtsttan 


From  their  wreck  and  from  their  ruin  first  will  thy 
true  riches  flow. 

Thou  shalt  lose  thy  life  and  find  it,  thou  shalt  boldly 
cast  it  forth, 

And  then,  back  again  receiving,  know  it  in  its  end- 
less worth." 

But  suppose  the  vine  should  dictate  to  its 
dresser  and  having  the  power  should  say,  "No, 
I  cannot,  I  will  not  part  with  these  things." 
You  know  what  that  would  mean — Barrenness. 
In  Brazil  there  is  a  plant  called  the' 'Matador'* 
or  *' Murderer."  It  is  a  poisonous  parasite  that 
fixes  itself  upon  the  most  vigorous  trees  of  the 
forest  and  creeping  upward  winds  its  arm-like 
tendrils  in  close  embrace  about  the  tree  until 
at  last  it  shoots  its  beautiful  and  poisonous 
flowery  head  above  the  strangled  summit  as  if 
in  triumph,  for  it  has  killed  the  tree.  Can 
this  be  true  of  a  Christian?  What  was  the 
second  thing  written  in  the  text?  "Every 
branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit.  He  taketh 
away,"  and  in  the  sixth  verse  it  is  said  they  are 
"cast  into  the  fire  and  burned."  It  seems  to 
read,  either  fruit  bearing  or  burning.  What 
does  that  mean?  I  do  not  know.  I  know 
what  I  think  it  means.  I  know  what  the  great 
schools  of  theology  have  thought  it  means.  I 
80 


HtuesteD  development 


know  they  differ  altogether  in  their  opinions, 
and  I  know  that  the  really  wise  man  is  the  man 
who  knows  that  he  does  not  know  it  all,  and  I 
know  that  in  the  light  of  these  words  I  would 
not  dare  to  willfully  persist  in  known  sin. 
There  have  been  men,  and  some  of  them  for 
whom  my  heart  has  bled,  who  have  done  such 
a  thing  and  God  only  knows  the  result.  There 
is  in  my  mind  an  instance  of  this,  of  which  for 
reasons  I  must  speak  reverently  and  with  care 
— a  man  who  for  almost  a  score  of  years  occu- 
pied a  place  of  responsibility  and  usefulness  in 
the  Master's  vineyard  as  superintendent  of  a 
flourishing  Sabbath  School.  He  was  apparently 
an  earnest  Christian  and  much  devoted  to  the 
work.  In  connection  with  his  business  there 
came  to  him  an  opportunity  for  making  consid- 
erable money  which,  however,  incurred  an 
evident  violation  of  the  Sabbath  day.  He  felt 
the  thing  to  be  wrong,  and  yet  he  yielded  not 
only  the  first  Sunday,  but  the  next,  and  then 
the  next,  and  so  on.  Naturally  he  began  to 
lose  interest  in  his  Christian  work.  It  no 
longer  yielded  him  the  same  joy,  nor  was  he 
unconscious  of  the  lack  of  something  that 
formerly  had  helped  him  and  made  his  influ- 
ence strong.  By  and  by  he  resigned  as  super- 
81 


Zbc  Gtoxoim  CbtiBtian 


intendent;  then  his  church  attendance  grew 
irregular  and  after  a  while  it  ceased  altogether. 
He  gave  himself  up  to  making  money,  appar- 
ently lost  all  interest  in  the  things  of  God,  and 
a  few  years  ago  passed  away  seemingly  uncon- 
cerned about  his  own  future. 

I  am  not  even  going  to  suggest  the  possibility 
of  a  regenerate  man  being  lost ;  it  may  be  that 
such  branches  were  never  really  in  the  Vine,  or 
it  may  be  that  the  burning  is  but  the  drapery 
in  the  analogy  and  used  to  complete  the 
imagery  in  keeping  with  what  really  transpires 
in  a  vineyard,  and  such  branches  because  of 
their  unfruitf alness  have  been  laid  aside  in  the 
sense  in  which  some  have  interpreted  Paul's 
words  in  1  Cor.  9 :  27,  where  he  says  he  endeav- 
ors to  keep  the  self -life  crucified,  "lest  that  by 
any  means  when  I  have  preached  to  others  I 
myself  should  be  a  castaway."  Not  that  Paul 
was  in  any  danger  of  being  eventually  cast  away 
into  that  pit  of  burning  where  there  shall  be 
weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth ;  not  that  any 
niche  in  God's  gallery  can  be  empty  of  its 
intended  statue;  not  that  any  power  on  earth, 
above  it  or  beneath  it  can  tear  one  lamb  from 
the  Shepherd's  bosom,  but  that  the  possibility 
was  ever  present  with  him  of  his  heart  being 
82 


HrresteC)  Bevelopment 


set  upon  something  displeasing  to  God,  of  his 
becoming  ambitious  for  himself  rather  than 
for  Christ,  of  the  loss  of  influence  through 
doubtful  indulgence  by  reason  of  which  his  life 
would  become  barren  and  unfruitful  and  God 
would  strip  him  of  his  2^oiue7\  and  casting  him 
aside  ivould  give  to  another  his  place  of  service 
and  his  crown  of  rejoicing. 
'  It  is  this  thought  that  has  been  before  me 
throughout  all  I  have  said.  Is  yours  an 
arrested  development?  Can  you  recall  a  time 
of  deeper  interest  in  the  Master's  work ;  a  time 
of  greater  pleasure  in  his  service ;  a  time  when 
you  could  rest  your  head  at  night  with  the 
sweet  consciousness  that  that  day  had  counted 
something  for  Jesus — possibly  more  than  a 
week  or  month  or  year  counts  now?  Was  there 
a  time  when  you  felt  the  avenues  of  your  soul 
coursing  with  the  rich  peace  and  satisfaction  of 
Christ?  And  are  all  these  things  of  the  past? 
Something  is  wrong  somewhere,  and  if  you  will 
but  cast  yourself  down  before  Him  He  will  put 
His  finger  on  the  spot  and  show  you  where 
it  is. 

I  want  to  be  very  tender  just  at  this  point. 
This  is  not  to  denounce  your  sin  as  manifested 
in  any  particular  form,  but  my  God  in  heaven, 
83 


XTbe  Growing  Cbristian 


what  an  awful  thing  it  would  be  to  be  forced  to 
feel  that  Christ  has  no  further  use  for  me 
because  I  have  thwarted  Him  and  withstood 
Him  and  pulled  away  from  Him  and  have  been 
now  so  long  a  proud  and  self -concerned  pro- 
fessed child  of  His,  that  I  am  left  to  drag  these 
weary  years  through  and  go  up  at  last  into  His 
presence  a  dwarfed  and  stunted  weakling! 
May  heaven  save  us  all  from  a  thing  like  that ! 
Not  very  long  ago  we  were  preaching  in  a 
tent  during  a  time  of  fierce  and  frequent 
storms.  Several  times  the  tent,  a  massive  one 
with  heavy  center  poles  well  stayed,  blew  down. 
One  day  driving  into  the  country  we  saw  a 
mighty  monarch  of  the  forest  lying  prostrate 
on  the  ground.  It  had  gone  down  during  the 
night.  "Well,"  said  Mr.  Weeden,  my  associ- 
ate, "no  wonder  the  old  tent  went  down  when 
a  tree  like  that  had  to  give  up."  But  our 
surprise  vanished  when  we  came  up  and  read 
the  story  of  its  downfall.  It  had  been  a  mag- 
nificent tree,  once  tall  and  beautiful  and 
strong,  bearing  its  fruit  in  its  season.  The 
winds  tried  "to  blow  it  down,  but  it  struck  its 
roots  deeper  in  the  soil  and  laughed  at  the 
puny  efforts  of  the  storm.  The  sun  tried  to 
burn  its  foliage;  it  dried  up  the  soil  and  tried 
84 


Brre6teD  Development 


to  starve  its  roots;  the  rains  poured  down  as  if 
they  would  drown  it;  the  snows  piled  up 
around  it  as  if  they  would  freeze  it  or  bury  it, 
but  the  old  tree  grew  on  and  prospered.  But 
by  and  by  the  tree  seemed  to  lose  its  spirit. 
Its  leaves  were  not  so  fresh  and  green;  they 
withered  early  and  came  in  fewer  numbers  each 
recurring  year;  its  fruit  grew  small  and  shriv- 
elled; its  branches  dropped  off,  many  of  them, 
and  by  and  by  another  storm  came,  not  so  fierce 
as  many  it  had  met  before,  but  the  fibers  had 
lost  their  strength  and  the  once  proud  and 
defiant  tree  fell  with  a  mighty  crash.  And 
when  we  came  up  to  it  we  discovered  that  its 
huge  trunk  was  all  hollow  and  that  for  probably 
many  years  it  had  been  scarcely  more  than  the 
rim  of  a  tree.  The  rest  of  the  story  is  very 
brief.  One  unfortunate  day  a  little  worm  ate 
its  way  into  the  heart  of  the  tree,  laid  its  eggs 
there  and  died.  Soon  there  were  a  dozen 
worms,  and  from  these  came  many  more.  Soon 
there  were  hundreds  feeding  upon  the  heart  of 
the  tree  until  they  had  eaten  away  nearly  all  its 
life  and  left  it  an  easy  prey  to  the  storms  that 
blew  about  it. 

Dear  friend,  the  application  is  easy.     God 
help  us  to  make  it  each  one  for  himself.     Have 
85 


Ube  Growing  Cbrtsttan 


you  been  falling  in  the  hour  of  temptation? 
Has  your  life  been  dry  of  late?  No  buoyancy 
of  spirit,  no  intimate  fellowship  with  Jesus,  no 
tear  and  no  prayer.  Ah,  child,  there  was  no 
salvation  for  the  tree ;  there  is  for  you.  The 
blessed  Spirit  of  Christ,  pure,  strong  and  true 
is  waiting  to  come  in  and  He  will  bring  His 
own  health  with  Him  and  you  shall  no  longer 
be  the  "servant  of  sin"  of  any  kind,  but 
"yielding  your  members  unto  righteousness  you 
shall  have  your  fruit  unto  holiness." 

May  God  help  us  to  put  away  that  which  is 
injurious  and  to  put  it  away  now ;  and  for  every 
wrong  thing  and  for  every  inexpedient  thing, 
which  by  His  grace  we  lay  down,  we  shall  be 
made  rich  in  Him  for  He  will  give  us  Himself 
in  ever  increasing  measure  until  the  very  full- 
ness of  God  shall  be  ours  and  Christ  shall  be 
all  in  all,     God  grant  it. 


Zbc  ^iQn5  ot  Gtowtb 


THE  SIG^NTS  OF  GEOWTH 

SOMEWHERE  I  have  read  a  beautiful  little 
story  which  I  can  but  imperfectly  recall. 
It  was  entitled  "The  Measuring  Rod," 
and  it  was,  in  short,  the  account  of  a  time  at 
certain  intervals  when  an  angel  of  God  came 
down  to  measure  the  spiritual  growth  of  His 
people.  He  had  a  mysterious  and  beautiful 
rod  against  which  the  people  were  asked  to 
come  and  stand,  and  when  they  took  their 
place,  the  one  after  the  otjier,  a  strange  thing 
occurred.  The  stature  of  the  measured  one 
would  either  increase  or  decrease  according  to 
their  spiritual  condition  as  compared  with  the 
same  at  the  angel's  last  visit.  There  were  a 
great  many  surprises.  Mrs.  A.,  who  was  pres- 
ident of  the  Ladies'  Aid  and  superintendent  of 
the  Infant  Department  and  the  leader  in  sev- 
eral of  the  other  church  undertakings  and 
whom  everybody  thought  would  look  exceed- 
ingly well  under  the  rod,  shrank  away  almost 
to  nothing.  But  old  Jerry,  the  cobbler,  always 
stooping  below  his  height,  whom  no  one 
thought  of  save  as  they  had  some  mending  to 
be  done,  fairly  blazed  with  a  glow  of  glory 
87 


Cbe  Otowing  (Xbriatiau 


which  the  mysterious  rod  shed  about  him,  as 
his  deformity  seemed  to  leave  him  while  his 
stature  increased  above  that  of  anybody  in  the 
village.  There  was  one  young  lady  there  who 
knew  she  loved  her  Christ,  but  she  was  pain- 
fully conscious  at  that  time  of  having  been  so 
often  envious  of  another  young  lady's  hand- 
somer garments  than  she  herself  could  afford ; 
and  of  other  things  which  at  the  time  she  had 
argued  herself  into  conceding  as  nothing 
wrong,  but  which  now  in  the  presence  of  that 
heavenly  rod  smote  her  with  a  deep  sense  of 
guilt.  She  tried  to  hide  herself  among  the 
crowd,  thinking  the  angel  might  overlook  her, 
but  he  seemed  to  know  everyone  by  name  and 
presently  hers  was  called,  and  as  she  took  her 
place  it  was  just  as  she  dreaded  it  would  be,  for 
though  she  stood  on  the  tip  of  her  toes  trying 
to  raise  herself,  she  knew  she  was  shrinking 
down.  With  tears  in  her  eyes  she  besought 
the  angel  not  to  put  the  record  down,  but  he 
said  to  her,  with  a  kind  and  pitying  smile, 
''Daughter,  the  record  must  go  down,  for  I 
must  show  it  to  the  Master,  but  when  I  come 
again  I'm  sure  it  will  be  otherwise.*'  She 
promised  him  it  would  and  went  back  to  live 
anew  for  Christ.  I  wonder  how  we  of  this 
88 


ZTbe  Signs  ot  Growtb 


audience  would  fare  if  that  angel  with  his  rod 
were  here  to-day? 

There  is  something  very  impressive  to  me  in 
that  story  as  I  recall  it,  for  although  it  is  but 
an  innocent  fiction,  it  is  based  on  a  tremendous 
truth,  and  always  arouses  the  question  within 
me,  "Am  I  or  am  I  not  growing  in  grace?" 
"Am  I  or  am  I  not  increasing  in  spiritual 
stature?"  and  then  the  query  comes,  *'Is  there 
a  way  that  I  can  arrive  at  any  certain  knowl- 
edge of  my  spiritual  development,  if  such  there 
be?"  I  cannot  hear  myself  grow,  for  there  is 
no  whirr  of  machinery ;  I  cannot  see  myself 
grow,  for  that  which  grows  is  invisible,  and  if 
it  were  not,  all  thorough  growth  is  too  slow  to 
be  watched.  But  there  must  be  some  mark, 
some  outward  manifestation  to  the  world  or 
inward  evidence  to  myself  that  the  life  of  Christ 
is  prospering  within  my  soul.  It  is  to  this  we 
wish  to  refer  for  a  brief  while  at  this  place.  If 
the  Christian  grows  in  grace  as  Peter  would 
have  him  do,  it  ought  to  be  that  any  of  the 
graces  in  which  he  is  supposed  to  grow,  could 
be  taken  as  the  rod  with  which  to  measure  his 
development ;  for  ideal  growth  above  all  things 
else  is  symmetrical.  God  would  have  us  be  a 
complete  all-round  Christian  with  every  grace 
89 


Zhc  Growing  Cbrtettan 


of  the  new  life  developed  so  that  from  whatever 
side  approached,  the  world  will  see  something 
of  the  Christ-life  within  ns. 

We  might  take  any  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
mentioned  by  Paul  in  Galatians,  or  by  Peter 
in  his  epistle.  We  might  take  Faith  and 
measure  ourselves  by  that,  for  what  stronger 
virtue  than  to  cease  from  doubt  and  Job-like 
to  believe  in  God  even  though  He  seem  to  slay 
you.  We  might  take  Submission,  that  heroic 
virtue  that  chooses  just  what  God  has  chosen 
for  you  though  it  be  the  stony  path  and  the 
bleeding  heart.  We  might  take  Love,  that 
divinest  of  graces,  that  always  finds  us  helping 
somebody.  We  might  take  Humility;  the  full 
corn  in  the  ear  always  bends  down.  We  might 
take  these  or  any  one  of  many  others,  but  being 
confined  of  course  by  the  very  breadth  of  Chris- 
tian character  to  a  somewhat  limited  test,  I 
have  selected  four  things,  measuring  rods  so  to 
speak,  by  which  you  may  judge  how  much,  if 
at  all,  you  have  been  growing  in  grace.  And  I 
have  been  careful  to  sslecb  those  things  about 
which  there  can  be  no  mistaken  judgment. 
Oftentimes  we  think  we  are  humbler  and  more 
loving  and  better  than  we  really  are ;  but  here 
are  some  things  that  will  lead  us  to  a  pretty 
90 


Ube  St^ns  ot  Ctovvtb 


safe  conclusion  concerning  the  height  of  our 
spiritual  man.  May  God  help  us  as  we  go 
along,  in  case  we  see  we  are  lacking  (and  this 
doubtless  will  be  true  in  some  degree  of  us  all), 
to  earnestly  covet,  as  the  apostle  prayed,  to 
increase  more  and  more  as  we  go  on  from  degree 
to  degree  toward  the  stature  of  the  perfect 
man. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  we  shall  mention  a 
spiritual  appetite;  and  we  mean  by  that  of 
course  an  appetite  for  spiritual  things.  A 
healthy  man  always  has  a  good  appetite,  and 
health  after  all  is  the  prime  essential  of  growth ; 
but  since  the  things  of  God  are  and  always  will 
be  distasteful  to  the  natural  man,  the  very  fact 
of  your  appetite  for  them  is  evidence  of  the 
health  and  growth  of  your  spiritual  man ;  and 
since  the  appetites  of  these  two  natures  are 
wholly  antagonistic,  their  relative  strength 
within  you  will  quite  readily  determine  your 
standing  in  the  eyes  of  God  and  of  the  world  as 
well. 

Let  us  be  honest  now.  You  tell  me  the- 
things  that  are  strongest  in  your  life  and  I  can 
give  you  a  fair  estimate  of  the  stature  of  your 
spiritual  man.  Are  you  in  the  house  of  God  on 
Sunday  more  for  the  sake  of  your  profession 
91 


XTbe  Growing  Cbrtstian 


than  for  feasting  your  soul  in  the  worship  of 
God?  The  occasional,  and  very  occasional, 
visit  to  the  prayer-meeting, — is  it  for  the  sake 
of  appearance,  or  if  that  sounds  too  harsh,  let  us 
say  for  duty's  sake,  and  when  sitting  in  these 
places  does  the  mind  play  truant  to  the  occa- 
sion and  indulge  itself  in  frequent  excursions 
and  excitements  wherein  you  know  from  expe- 
rience an  indulgence  brings  gratification 
stronger  than  you  have  ever  experienced  in 
waiting  upon  God?  It  was  Hannah  Whitehall 
Smith,  I  think,  who  wrote, 

"I  love  to  steal  awhile  away 
From  every  cumbering  care. 
And  spend  the  hours  of  setting  day 
In  humble,  grateful  prayer." 

Do  you  really  delight  to  do  that,  or  do  you 
prefer  to  steal  away  somewhere  else  and  spend 
your  evenings  where  God  is  all  forgotten?  The 
Psalmist  said  the  man  who  had  forsaken  the 
wickedness  of  this  world  was  a  blessed  man. 
He  said,  however,  that  his  delight  was  in  the 
law  of  the  Lord  and  that  in  that  law  he  was  to 
be  found  meditating  day  and  night;  that  he 
was  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water 
that  bringet'i?  forth  his  fruit  in  his  season. 


Xlbe  SlGHS  of  Gvowtb 


What  about  your  delight?  How  much  real 
satisfaction  and  deep  gratifying  pleasure  do  you 
get  from  meditating  in  this  Word? — or  when 
you  read  it,  providing  you  do,  is  it  a  perfunc- 
tory service,  is  it  from  the  constraint  of  duty,  a 
thing  that  you  feel  you  ought  to  do  rather  than 
a  thing  you  love  to  do? 

Come,  friends,  have  you  really  learned  to  love 
Jesus?  If  you  have,  could  you  ever  enter  into 
any  indulgence  that  could  drive  Him  out  of 
your  thoughts?  We  are  told  to  "remember 
Him,"  and  if  we  loved  Him  would  this  not  be 
the  natural  thing  to  do?  These  are  the  words 
of  a  noble  character  whom  I  delight  to  think 
of  as  a  friend.  Said  he:  *'I  think  very  many 
times  of  the  one  I  love  best.  When  in  the 
night  I  awake  my  first  thought  is  of  her ;  and 
when  early  in  the  morning  the  sunrise  comes 
stealing  into  my  room,  my  first  thought  is  of 
her,  and  constantly  throughout  the  day  my 
mind  goes  out  to  her.  I  think  of  all  the  sweet 
things  she  has  said,  of  all  the  sweet  and  loving 
things  she  has  done,  and  /  do  remember  her." 
Do  you  think  he  would  enjoy  a  separation  from 
her?  And  if  we  really  love  Jesus,  do  you  not 
think  that  before  we  went  any  place  or  gave 
ourselves  to  any  indulgence  we  would  first  ask, 
93 


Zhc  Growing  Cbristtan 


"Can  I  have  Jesus  with  me  in  these  things?" 
I  recall  the  story  of  the  young  lady  who  wore 
a  locket  about  her  neck  into  which  no  one  was 
permitted  to  look.  But  one  day  in  an  hour  of 
serious  sickness  one  of  her  most  intimate 
friends  was  allowed  to  open  the  sacred  orna- 
ment, and  there  she  saw  the  words,  "Whom 
not  having  seen  I  love."  All  her  life  she  had 
been  remembering  Him,  thinking  over  sweet 
thoughts  about  Him,  and  need  I  tell  you  how 
marvelously  like  Him  she  had  grown  as  her 
character  ripened  in  its  rare  loveliness,  while 
her  friends  wondered  at  it  until  they  knew  the 
secret? 

In  my  work  as  an  evangelist  I  find  scores  of 
converts,  especially  among  the  young,  who  are 
perplexed  about  worldly  amusements,  and  they 
come  asking  me  if  it  is  wrong  to  dance  or  to  do 
so  and  so.  I  do  not  wonder  at  this,  for  as  yet 
they  are  like  those  Christians  to  whom  Paul 
speaks  in  the  third  chapter  of  First  Corinthians, 
saying,  "Brethren,  I  could  not  speak  unto  you 
as  unto  spiritual  but  as  unto  carnal,  even  as 
unto  babes  in  Christ."  In  them  the  carnal 
nature  was  still  predominate,  and  such  things 
as  were  troubling  the  consciences  of  these 
young  converts  were  the  very  things  they  cared 
94 


Zbc  SiQns  ot  Growtb 


most  to  do;  but  that  you  who  have  been  for 
years  in  the  Christian  life  should  be  concerned 
about  those  things  is  very  sad  indeed,  for  you 
have  had  time  to  develop  a  taste  for  better 
things,  and  if  you  have  been  a  growing  Chris- 
tian and  have  not  been  living  all  the  while  in 
the  elementary  stage  of  experience  and  are  not 
babes  in  Christ,  and  therefore  carnal,  which  is 
only  another  expression  for  the  self-life,  there 
will  have  been  developed  within  you  an  appetite 
which  will  prove  to  be  what  Dr.  Chalmers  has 
called  the  "expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection." 
Poor  Ilenry  Heine — we  say  poor  because  he 
was  so  very  poor  indeed — he  worshiped  what 
he  thought  was  the  beautiful,  and  the  Venus 
de  Milo,  an  armle.ss,  half-clad  statue  in  the 
Louvre  at  Paris,  he  called  his  goddess  and  said 
it  made  him  better  to  sit  and  gaze  upon  her; 
but  he  had  never  seen  Him  who  is  the  Eose  of 
Sharon  for  beauty  and  the  Lily  of  the  Valley 
for  loveliness.  But  it  is  said  of  Dannecker,  a 
gi'eat  sculptor  of  Germany,  that  he  was  one 
time  asked  to  use  his  wonderful  skill  in  carving 
a  statue  of  Venus,  and  he  made  a  strange 
reply.  He  had  been  for  years  working  over  a 
face  of  the  Christ  and  at  last  produced  a  face 
of  such  marvelous  beauty  and  tenderness  that 
95 


Zbc  (Browing  Cbrtsttatt 


people  would  weep  as  they  looked  upon  it. 
And  when  asked  to  carve  a  Venus,  he  replied, 
*'I  can  never  make  a  Venus  after  I  have  looked 
upon  the  face  of  Christ."  What  a  secret  is 
here !  And  what  but  may  be  true  of  us  all !  To 
have  an  appetite  which  only  the  things  of 
Christ  can  satisfy  speaks  already  of  a  soul  that 
is  growing  largo,  and  to  nourish  it  through  the 
appointed  means  of  grace,  brings  such  a  satis- 
faction to  the  soul  that  every  sinful  attraction 
will  lose  its  power;  and  such  a  vision  of  His 
beauty  that  the  fairest  things  of  this  world  will 
lose  their  splendor. 

2.  A  second  evidence  of  growth  in  grace  is 
a  keener  appreciation  of  lioiu  exceedingly  sinful 
all  sin  is,  and  a  correspondingly  deeper  loathing 
for  it.  As  we  grow  in  grace  the  more  hideous 
and  repulsive  does  sin,  of  whatever  kind, 
become.  Dear  child,  have  you  really  learned 
to  hate  sin  so  that  you  shrink  from  the  least 
touch  of  it,  and  when  you  know  it  has  touched 
you,  is  your  heart  wrung  with  an  unspeakable 
agony  because  your  sin  has  pierced  the  heart  of 
God?  I  think  Paul  had  come  to  a  place  like 
that.  Just  before  he  died  he  called  himself  the 
chief  of  sinners.  What  did  he  mean?  Not 
that  he  was  a  greater  sinner  than  when  he  was 
96 


Zbc  SiQHS  of  Growtb 


yet  a  babe  in  Christ  or  when  he  blasphemed 
God  and  waded  in  the  blood  of  His  slaughtered 
saints.  Xo,  not  that,  but  that  now  when  he 
knew  so  much  about  God,  one  little  sin,  how- 
ever small,  caused  him  infinitely  more  pain 
than  all  the  grosser  sins  of  his  former  life. 
Child  of  God,  if  you  have  been  growing  in 
grace,  something  like  that  will  be  true  of  you. 

3.  The  third  evidence  of  growth  in  grace  is 
a  clearer  discernment  of  right  and  wrong.  I 
will  let  Paul  explain  what  I  mean.  In  1  Cor. 
2:15  it  is  written,  "He  that  is  spiritual  judgeth 
all  things,"  and  if  you  will  look  in  the  Eevised 
Version  you  will  find  the  word  "judgeth" 
changed  to  "discerneth,"  "the  spiritual  man 
discerneth  all  things" ,  and  if  you  will  turn  to 
Hebrews  5:14  you  will  read,  "Strong  meat 
belongeth  to  them  that  are  of  full  age,  even  to 
those  who  by  reason  of  use  have  their  senses 
exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil." 

A  little  child  through  ignorance  of  what  is 
harmful  would  be  in  constant  peril  of  serious 
hurt  were  it  not  for  the  care  given  it  by  some 
grown  person  who  has  learned  by  the  discrimi- 
nation which  comes  from  long  exercise  of  the 
senses  to  make  proper  distinction  between 
things  which  are  hurtful  and  things  which  are 
97 


Ubc  GrowiuG  Cbrtstian 


useful.  Imagine,  if  possible,  a  world  in  which 
danger  always  came  with  noiseless  tread  and 
invisible  form,  in  which  decay  was  not  malo- 
dorous, in  which  mutilation  was  painless  and 
disease  carried  on  its  dread  work  with  no 
warning  to  its  victim;  imagine  such  a  world 
and  the  work  of  preservation  for  which  the 
senses  are  responsible  is  at  once  apparent. 
What  wonderful  and  indispensable  things  the 
senses  are  and  to  what  a  degree  of  accuracy 
they  may  be  trained.  But  there  are  spiritual 
senses  as  well  as  natural.  There  is  a  spiritual 
eye  and  a  spiritual  taste  and  other  senses  of  the 
spiritual  man  corresponding  to  those  of  the 
natural  man.  But  alas,  for  those  who  have 
eyes  and  see  not,  cars  and  hear  not,  and  who 
because  of  their  undisciplined  senses,  senses 
that  are  not  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil, 
are  in  the  babe  condition,  needing  a  guardian 
to  tell  them  which  way  to  go  and  what  to  eat 
lest  they  be  continually  indulging  that  which 
is  displeasing  to  God  and  hurtful  to  their  own 
souls. 

A  soldier  was  on  duty  as  sentinel  in  a  savage 
country.      He    had    been    for    many  years  a 
hunter  among  the  forests.     As  the  night  deep- 
ened he  heard  the  cracking  of  the  forest  twigs, 
98 


Ube  Signs  of  Orowtb 


and  looking  out  he  saw  what  appeared  to  be  a 
wild  hog  slowly  approaching  and  apparently 
searching  among  the  leaves  for  the  nuts  that  had 
fallen  from  the  tre-^G.  But  the  hunter's  keen 
eye  detected  a  certain  avrkwardness  about  the 
movements  and  suspicion  was  aroused.  To 
fire  and  shoot  a  wild  hog  would  be  to  make 
himself  the  butt  of  ridicule  among  his  compan- 
ions, but  feeling  that  his  sense  of  sight  so 
trained  by  use  could  be  depended  upon  he 
raised  his  rifle  and  fired,  and  with  a  bound  and 
a  yell  an  Indian  leaped  to  his  feet  and  fell  back 
dead. 

How  often  Satan  comes  in  disguise.  How 
often  evil  presents  itself  with  seeming  plausi- 
bility, but  the  Word  of  God  is  that  in  just  the 
degree  in  which  we  have  arrived  to  maturity, 
that  is  according  to  our  growth  in  grace,  will 
be  our  ability  to  more  readily  detect  that  which 
is  inconsistent  with  the  true  worship  of  our 
God.  We  will  se3  evil  where  years  before  we 
would  never  have  thought  of  even  looking  for 
it.  Things  which  formerly  we  would  not  allow 
ourselves  to  think  of  as  questionable  we  will 
now  have  grace  to  put  away.  The  word  '* un- 
derstanding," used  in  Isaiah  11:  3  to  describe 
this  faculty  of  soul,  in  the  original  means 
99 


Z\)c  Growing  dbtisttan 


"scent"  or  "smell,"  and  what  is  promised 
there,  is  a  keenness  of  scent  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord;  the  ability  to  detect  the  obnoxious  in 
what  others  indulge  without  suspicion  of  its 
harm ;  a  sensitiveness  as  it  were  to  danger  yet 
a  great  way  off  that  will  drive  us  to  Jesus  for 
shelter.  Something  like  this  Paul  must  have 
meant  when  speaking  of  spiritually  matured 
people  as  those  "who  by  reason  of  use  have 
their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and 
evil." 

Sometimes  Mrs.  B.  comes  into  my  study  and 
she  will  say,  "Why,  dear,  it  is  very  close  in 
here,"  and  I  reply,  "Well,  I  hadn't  noticed 
it."  The  reason  is  plain.  I  had  been  sitting 
in  that  atmosphere  for  hours,  had  come  some- 
what into  harmony  with  it  and  was  not  aware 
of  how  really  unwholesome  it  was,  but  she  who 
had  been  downstairs  and  out-of-doors  enjoying 
God's  own  pure  air  came  into  my  room  with 
her  senses  sharpened  to  discern  what  I  could 
not  detect,  because  mine  had  become  dull 
through  living  in  touch  with  that  which  was 
foul  and  unhealthy.  Just  so  there  are  some 
Christians  who  are  living  in  the  midst  of  moral 
malaria  and  do  not  seem  to  know  it.  And 
when  they  hear  some  pure-hearted  man  speak 
100 


Ube  ^iQns  of  Growtb 


a  word  of  caution  against  some  pet  indulgence 
they  think  him  too  radical  for  sensible  people 
to  listen  to.  There  are  Christians  who  will 
hang  unholy  pictures  on  the  walls  of  their 
imagination,  who  will  take  up  some  of  the 
impure  fiction  over  which  the  world  is  going 
wild  and  read  it  with  relish  through  to  the  end, 
who  will  indulge  in  a  laagh  at  remarks  which 
could  not  well  be  made  in  mixed  society  and 
feel  no  pain  though  the  hurt  has  been  just  as 
surely  received.  People  who  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  I  would  not  by  any  language  I 
might  use  mean  to  unchristianize  anybody, 
living  in  an  atmosphere  of  pleasure  and  sin 
which  would  be  positively  intolerable  if  they 
only  knew  the  fragrance  and  the  exhilaration 
of  the  atmosphere  that  comes  from  constant 
communion  with  the  living  Christ,  the  vital 
breath  of  prayer,  the  uplift  from  the  blessed 
Word,  the  inspiration  found  in  doing  His  will. 
Are  your  spiritual  'senses  being  exercised  by 
reason  of  use  to  discern  both  good  and  evil? 

4.  And  now  a  word  about  the  other  evidence 
of  such  growth.  It  is  victory  over  si7i.  We 
certainly  must  admit  that  according  to  the 
measure  of  one's  light  it  is  possible  to  be  kept 
from   all   known   sin — not  from   falling    into 


Ube  Growing  Cbrtsttan 


temptation  but  from  falling  in  temptation. 
Whether  any  allow  themselves  to  be  so  con- 
stantly and  continually  kept  is  not  for  us  to 
say,  but  to  claim  this  for  oneself  is  far  from 
asserting  one's  perfection.  For  anyone  to  talk 
about  being  perfectly  sanctified  sounds  per- 
fectly absurd.  Such  an  one  has  failed  to 
appreciate  what  holiness  really  is.  Certainly 
we  are  to  be  holy;  and  we  are  to  be  still  holier. 
Mr.  Meyer  says  that  he  was  one  time  paying 
a  pastoral  visit  to  a  poor  washerwoman  who 
had  just  gotten  out  a  line  of  clothes.  He  con- 
gratulated her  because  they  looked  so  white. 
Pleased  with  her  pastor's  kind  words  she  invited 
him  to  have  a  cup  of  tea.  While  they  were 
sitting  at  tea  the  sky  clouded  and  there  was  a 
snow  storm,  and  as  he  came  out  the  white 
snow  lay  everywhere  about,  and  he  said  to  her, 
"Your  washing  does  not  look  quite  so  clean  as 
it  did."  "Ah,"  she  said,  "the  washing  is 
right  enough,  but  what  can  stand  against  God 
Almighty's  white?"  And  so,  my  friend,  you 
may  think  yourself  clean,  but  if  you  could  only 
see  God,  if  you  are  a  man  of  true  heart,  you 
would  cry,  "Woe  is  me,  for  I  am  undone!"  and 
repenting  in  dust  and  ashes  you  would  cry, 
"Lord,  forgive  me!" 

102 


Zbc  Slans  ot  6rowtb 


But  while  all  this  is  true,  still  if  I  did  not 
find  in  my  own  experience  that  I  am  having 
easier  victory  over  wsin  to-day  than  I  had  ten 
years  ago,  how  disappointing  to  me  would  be 
the  power  which  the  Word  teaches  comes  from 
union  with  Christ,  from  the  indwelling  and 
infilling  of  His  own  omnipotent  Spirit.  Peter 
talks  about  being  "kept  by  the  power  of  God" 
(1  Peter  1 :  5).  Banish  forever  the  thought  that 
it  is  necessary  for  the  Christian  to  sin.  Tempted 
you  may  be.  Jesus  was.  "The  life  of  holi- 
ness," says  Macgregor,  "is  not  a  life  of  passive 
rest;  it  is  a  conflict.  It  is  a  fight;  but  it  is  a 
fight  of  faith  (i  Tim.  6:12),  and  it  is  a  suc- 
cessful fight."  Xot  freedom  from  temptation, 
but  victory  over  it.  The  law  of  sin  is  still  with 
us.  It  was  with  Paul.  He  had  to  "keep  his 
body  under"  (1  Car.  [):  27);  when  he  would  Uo 
good  "evil  was  ever  present  with  him"  (Rom. 
7;  21),  but  he  knew  the  secret  of  victory  and 
applied  it  in  his  life.  He  tells  about  it  in 
Rom.  8 :  2.  That  verse  suggests  the  fight  just 
mentioned.  How  apparent  it  is  that  if  pro- 
vision is  made  for  the  fli'sh  the  "law  of  sin" 
will  become  strong  and  the  old  man's  victory 
easy;  but  if  we  follow  Paul's  advice  and  "make 
no  provision  for  the  flesh,"  but  the  rather  for 
303 


Cbe  Growing  CfDViBttan 


the  "things  of  the  Spirit,"  the  "law  of  the 
Spirit  of  His  life"  within  us  becomes  strong 
and  the  new  man's  victory  assured.  And  as 
we  go  on  growing  thus  from  day  to  day  the 
victory  becomes  easier  as  we  go.  It  is  but 
natural  that  it  should.  Victory  we  may  have 
all  along  the  way,  but  temptation  itself  loses 
its  power  for  the  man  of  holiness  who  is  "grow- 
ing up  in  all  things  in  Him."  Are  you  grow- 
ing? 


J04 


"And  He  gave  some,  apostles;  and  some,  prophets; 
and  some,  evangelists;  and  some,  pastors  and  teach- 
ers; for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints  unto  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  unto  the  building  up  of  the  body  of 
Christ;  till  we  all  come  unto  the  unity  of  the 

FAITH  AND  OF  THE  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  SON  OF  GOD, 
UNTO  A  FULL  GROWN  MAN,  UNTO  THE  MEASURE  OF  THE 
STATURE  OF  THE  FULLNESS  OF  CHRIST;   that  ive    be  nO 

more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men  in 
craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive;  but 
dealing  truly  in  love,  may  groiv  up  into  Him  in  all 
things,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ." — Saint  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  Chapter  4. 


106 


Ubc  U\?pe  ot  (3rowtb 


THE  TYPE  OF  GROWTH 

"Till  we  all  come  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith  and 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  full- 
grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the 
fuUness  of  Christ. "—Eph.  4:13. 

HAVING  spoken  at  some  length  of  the 
Christian's  growth  and  development,  I 
wonder  if  the  thought  has  not  already- 
been  present  with  many  of  you  concerning  the 
type  or  goal  of  this  development.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  these  closing  words  to  set  it  before 
you,  for  I  am  sure, 

"If  thou  couldst  in  vision  see 
Thyself,  the  man  God  meant, 
Thou  never  more  couldst  be 
The  man  thou  art,  content." 

In  this  marvelous  passage  of  PauPs,  taken 
from  his  Ephesian  letter,  there  is  doubtless  an 
immediate  reference  to  the  perfection  in  Jesus 
Christ  of  the  church  as  a  whole,  yet  the  church 
can  only  come  to  the  stature  of  a  fuUgrown 
man,  as  the  individuals  who  compose  it  are 
likewise  perfected  in  the  graces  that  belong  to 
Christian  character.  And  so  we  have  here  set 
before  us  the  type  of  character,  the  whereunto 
107 


Zbc  Growing  Cbvistian 


the  Christian  is  to  grow.  He  is  to  develop  into 
the  likeness  of  Christ.  Christ  is  the  type  of 
growth. 

You  have  all  read  Hawthorne's  "Legend  of 
the  Stony  Face,'*  how  the  Great  Spirit  left  his 
image  upon  a  rock  and  went  away  promising 
to  return  at  a  future  time,  and  how  one  Indian 
gazed  upon  that  face  by  day  and  dreamed 
about  it  by  night  until  his  own  face  began  to 
bear  its  likeness ;  and  one  day  when  the  tribe 
had  ceased  from  war  and  its  spiritual  vision 
had  become  clear,  they  recognized  in  him  the 
Great  Spirit  who  had  come  back  to  earth  in 
this  waiting  prophet's  soul. 

Something  like  that  Paul  says  is  to  be  true 
of  the  real  child  of  God.  This  is  what  he  says : 
**We  all  with  unveiled  face  beholding  as  in  a 
mirror  (and  this  certainly  is  the  original)  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  (and  by  glory  is  meant  char- 
acter), are  changed  into  the  same  image  from 
character  to  character"  (2  Cor.  3:18).  Does 
this  mean  that  we  are  eventually  to  become, 
each  one,  another  Christ?  No,  and  yes.  An 
image  is  a  likeness.  There  is  nothing  here  of 
Hindoo  absorption;  nothing  of  identification 
or  of  equality;  nothing  of  this  modern  deifica- 
tion of  man  that  would  make  him,  in  a  meas- 
108 


Ube  tl^pe  ot  Growtb 


ure,  through  sacrificial  toil,  a  savior  of  the 
world  in  the  same  sense  with  the  atoning 
Christ;  but  an  expression  of  the  transforming 
influence  of  the  devout  contemplation  of  the 
moral  beauty  and  glorious  goodness  of  the  Son 
of  God.  We  are  to  be  like  Christ;  we  are  so 
to  partake  of  His  character  that  when  the 
world  sees  us,  though  it  be  at  the  trivial  round 
and  common  task,  it  will  say,  "Tell  us  of  the 
Christ  whose  glory  you  so  reflect." 

And  still  in  a  very  proper  sense  we  are  to  be 
ourselves  Christs;  and  here,  after  all,  we  are 
going  to  discover  the  real  secret  of  our  likeness 
to  Him.  Christ,  as  it  were,  has  been  reincar- 
nated in  every  Christian,  however  poorly  some 
of  us  represent  Him.  At  the  moment  of  the 
new  birth,  Christ  takes  up  His  abode  in  the 
believer's  soul  and  the  individual  is  no  more 
himself  but  Jesus  Christ ;  all  the  rest  of  life  is 
a  continual  denial  of  himself  and  an  assertion 
of  the  Christ  within,  and  all  the  supreme  love- 
liness of  character  is  but  the  expression  of  the 
perfect  man  within.  When  Augustin,  who  had 
lived  in  profligacy,  gave  himself  to  Christ,  he 
renounced  his  former  evil  associations.  One 
day,  when  going  down  the  streets  of  Carthage, 
he  met  the  woman  who  had  been  his  fascina- 
109 


tTbe  (Browing  Cbristlan 


tion  in  the  sinful  life  and  ran  from  her.  She 
cried  and  said,  "Why  do  you  run,  Augustin?  It 
is  I."  And  Augustin  shouted  back,  ''I  run 
because  I  am  not  I."  "Martin  Luther,"  said 
the  great  reformer,  "does  not  live  here;  Jesus 
Christ  lives  here,"  and  a  greater  one  than 
Luther  long  ago  said,  "I  live,  yet  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me."  Blessed  be  God  such  a 
transformation  is  possible.  And  the  assertion 
of  Christ  in  a  believer's  being  involves  the 
reproduction  of  Christ  in  a  believer's  life;  hav- 
ing the  same  mind  and  disposition  with  Christ 
in  all  things,  that  this  world,  in  taking  note 
of  the  Christian's  daily  walk  and  conversation, 
will  recognize  that  Christ  has  come  back  to 
eartli  in  another  Christian  soul. 

Of  course  it  is  very  important  to  have  a 
noble  ideal  and  an  ambition  to  attain  it.  "We 
have  not  meant  to  ignore  this  truth,  although 
we  have  been  studying  the  attainment  of  char- 
acter from  another  viewpoint,  and  there  is  no 
ideal  so  completely  worthy  to  be  set  before  the 
human  soul  as  that  presented  in  the  character 
of  Jesus  Christ;  neither  can  there  be  any 
nobler  aspiration  than  the  ambition  to  be  so 
Christ-like  in  the  deportment  of  one's  life, 
that  as  you  go  through  the  world,  the  sad  and 
110 


Zhc  U^pe  of  Growtb 


weary  souls  of  earth  will  see  Christ  in  yon  and 
bless  God  for  sending  you  into  their  midst. 
But  when  once  the  character  of  Jesus  is  set 
before  us  in  all  its  unblemished  loveliness,  is  it 
any  wonder  we  despair  of  ever  attaining  an 
ideal  like  unto  that?  But  who  has  been  em- 
phasizing ideals?  We've  been  talking  about  a 
type,  and  there's  all  the  difference  in  the  world 
between  an  ideal  and  a  type.  We  spoke  about 
the  reproduction  of  Christ  in  life,  but  not  as 
anything  a  poor,  weak,  human  soul  might  do. 
We'll  have  to  consider  the  lilies  again,  how 
they  grow.  How  do  they  grow?  How  does  an 
acorn  become  an  oak?  Not  by  trying,  but  by 
allowing  the  oak-life  within  it  its  own  natural 
development,  and  so  the  Christian's  Christ- 
likeness  does  not  result  from  an  effort  of  the 
human  soul  to  reproduce  the  character  of 
Christ  by  imitating  an  ideal  (though  we  do  not 
disparage  imitation),  but  by  allowing  the 
Christ-life  within  him  to  reproduce  itself. 
This  is  what  is  meant  in  the  scientific  world 
by  "Conformity  to  Type." 

You  know  what  protoplasm  is:  it's  the  basis 

of  all  life;  it's  the  clay  from  which  the  potter 

moulds  his  vessels;  but  did  you  know  that  all 

protoplasm  is  at  least  seemingly  alike  and  that 

111 


Ube  (Btowtng  Cbristtan 


if  you  took  the  first  little  speck  of  it  and 
examined  it  under  the  highest  powers  of  the 
microscope,  you  could  not  tell,  though  you 
were  the  most  skilled  scientist  of  earth, whether 
that  little  speck  of  structureless  albuminous- 
like  substance  would  develop  into  a  man  or  an 
animal  or  a  tree?  In  the  embryo,  as  it  first 
meets  the  eye,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  whether 
that  into  which  it  is  to  develop  will  fly  in  the 
air,  or  swim  in  the  sea,  or  walk  on  the  earth, 
or  be  fixed  immovable  in  it.  What  then  is  it 
that  makes  the  difference  in  the  outgrowth  of 
that  protoplasmic  germ?  It  is  a  strange  some- 
thing that  has  entered  into  it,  and  which  is  dis- 
tinct from  it,  and  which  seizes  upon  it  and 
moulds  it  into  an  image  of  itself;  a  different 
something  for  the  plant,  a  different  something 
for  the  animal,  a  different  something  for  man 
and  a  different  something  for  every  different 
type  belonging  to  them.  What  is  this  mys- 
terious something?  It  is  the  ty2)G  determining 
life^  the  potter  who  moulds  the  clay  into  an 
image  of  himself.  *'A11  life,"  says  Paul,  "is 
not  the  same  life;  there  is  one  kind  of  life  of 
men,  another  life  of  beasts,  another  of  fishes  and 
another  of  birds."  This  mysterious  some- 
thing, which  no  eye  can  see  and  no  science 
112 


XTbe  XTotc  of  (Browtb 


define,  which  enters  the  protoplasm  of  a  tree  is 
the  tree-life ;  that  which  enters  the  protoplasm 
of  a  fish,  the  fish-life,  and  that  which  enters 
the  protoplasm  of  a  man,  the  man-life,  and  so 
on,  and  each  of  these  protoplasmic  germs  must 
now,  according  to  its  nature,  develop  into  an 
image  of  the  particular  life  within  it,  the  visi- 
ble vegetable  or  animal  being,  as  it  were,  but 
the  incarnation  of  the  invisible  image  stamped 
upon  them  in  their  germinal  state  and  which 
by  the  very  nature  of  things  they  cannot  help 
but  reproduce. 

Is  there  now  an  analogy  to  this  in  the  spirit- 
ual world?  Is  there  another  kind  of  life  which, 
entering  into  the  spiritual  nature  of  man, 
begins  to  work  itself  out  as  a  process  of  natural 
development?  Yes,  there  is,  and  what  that 
life  is  we  have  already  seen.  It  is  the  Christ- 
life,  and  just  as  the  man-life  develops  into  the 
image  of  a  man,  so  the  Christ-life  develops  into 
the  image  of  the  Christ,  making  the  man  in 
his  spiritual  nature  an  exact  reproduction  of 
the  Christ  within  him.  Blessed  be  God,  the 
Christian's  Christ-likeness  does  not  result  from 
a  series  of  feeble  efforts  to  imitate  an  extrane- 
ous ideal,  but  comes  from  the  spontaneous, 
automatic  reproduction  of  an  inner  life  which 
113 


Zbc  (Btowino  Cbristtan 


is  as  natural  as  the  quiet  persistent  growth  of 
the  enameled  calyx  from  the  lily  bulb.  If  only 
the  conditions  of  health  are  maintained  there 
need  be  no  anxiety  about  the  imago. 

And  what  does  it  mean  to  be  like  Christ? 
Well,  in  plain  terms,  it  means  we'll  be  a  good 
deal  easier  to  get  along  with  than  some  of  us 
are  now.  In  the  home  you'll  be  easier  to  live 
with ;  no  longer  be  so  awfully  nice  away  from 
home  and  cross  as  a  bear  in  your  own  house. 
That  unruly  temper  that  goes  off  with  a  hair- 
trigger  will  come  under  control  and  disappear. 
That  thin-skinned  sensitiveness,  that  is  always 
getting  its  feelings  hurt,  will  disappear,  because 
the  self -life  will  be  crucified  and  a  dead  man 
isn't  supposed  to  have  any  feelings.  All  that 
bitterness  of  heart  and  unforgiving  spirit  will 
take  wings,  and  when  you've  buried  your  ani- 
mosity you'll  not  spend  any  time  putting 
flowers  on  its  grave.  That  "good  as  anybody 
else,  and  a  little  better"  feeling  will  give  place 
to  a  becoming  humility  and  you  won't  pride 
yourself  on  it  when  you  get  it  either.  There'll 
be  a  change  in  that  life  of  worldliness  that  has 
caused  people  to  wonder  what  the  difference 
was  any  way  between  you  and  some  others  who 
never  professed  to  be  Christians. 
114 


XTbe  Xl^pe  ot  (Btowtb 


But  why  particularize?  Look  at  His  tran- 
scendent character,  the  dazzling  glory  of  His 
moral  beauty,  and  think  of  growing  up,  as  Paul 
says,  in  all  things  into  Him !  Think  of  being 
like  Him — like  Him  in  His  sublime  and  unfal- 
tering faith  in  tlie  righteous  purpose  and  power 
of  the  God  of  heaven  to  redeem  the  world 
though  all  the  powers  of  hell  be  set  against  it; 
like  Him  in  His  cheerful  obedience  to  His 
Father's  will,  though  it  wrung  His  soul  with 
unspeakable  agony  to  perform  it;  like  Him  in 
His  self -forgetful  earnestness  that  made  His 
whole  existence  a  continuous  Calvary  passion 
for  His  fellowmen;  like  Him  in  His  infinite 
forgiveness  that  came  from  a  heart  without  a 
grain  of  personal  animosity  even  though  His 
persecutors  nailed  Him,  in  their  wrath,  to  the 
cross  of  His  crucifixion;  like  Him  in  His 
tender  compassion  that  sent  His  heart  out  with 
an  infinite  yearning  to  the  poor  and  distressed 
and  made  His  life  a  mission  of  mercy  to  the 
heirs  of  misfortune;  like  Him  in  His  calm  and 
gentle  self-control,  answering  nothing  though 
reviled  and  insulted  by  the  brutal  mob;  like 
Him  in  His  sweot  humility  that  made  the  con- 
scious Sovereisfu  of  the  Universe,  with  all  His 
supreme  dignity,  a  little  child  among  the  men 
115 


Ubc  Growing  Cbristtan 


of  earth;  and  above  all,  like  Him  in  the 
pure  whiteness  of  His  soul,  which,  though  it 
came  in  contact  with  defilement,  like  the 
enameled  lily,  was  never  sullied  by  its  touch. 
Like  Him  in  all  these  and  in  all  the  other 
traits  of  His  lovely  character. 

Well  might  one  despair  of  ever  attaining  any- 
thing like  such  perfection  of  moral  beauty  if  he 
were  left  to  his  own  feeble  effort  after  right- 
eousness. To  imitate  such  an  ideal,  how  were 
it  in  any  appreciable  degree  possible?  But  it's 
not  imitation  we're  dwelling  upon.  It's  some- 
thing better  than  that.  It's  conformity  to  type. 
It  is  the  Christ-life,  the  new  man  reproducing 
His  image  in  the  human  soul.  We  are  not  to 
conform  ourselves  but  we  are  to  be  conformed. 
The  verbs  in  such  passages  are  all  in  the  passive 
voice.  **Whom  He  did  foreknow,  He  also  did 
predestinate  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of 
His  Son."  *' Beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  we  are  transformed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory."  "Put  on  the  new 
man  which  is  renewed  in  knowledge  after  the 
image  of  Him  that  created  him, ' '  And  once 
more  the  same  apostle,  for  it  is  Paul  who  is 
saying  all  this,  says,  "My  little  children,  of 
whom  I  travail  in  birth  again  until  Christ  he 
116 


TLbc  U'QVC  ot  Growtb 


formed  in  you."  And  what  is  all  this  but 
what  we  liaTe  been  saying?  that  of  ourselves 
we  are  insufficient  to  accomplish  anything,  but 
that  it  is  the  living  Christ  within  whose  work- 
manship we  are  and  the  beauty  of  whose  holi- 
ness is  upou  us  as  He  works  within  us  to  will 
and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure. 

Somewhere  I  have  read  of  an  artist  falsely 
accused  and  thrown  into  prison.  His  brushes 
and  paint  were  allowed  him,  but  he  had  no 
canvas.  One  day  he  asked  a  man  in  the  corri- 
dor for  something  upon  which  he  might  paint, 
ap.d  the  man  indifferently  picked  up  an  old 
soiled  handkerchief  and  tossing  it  to  him  said, 
*'There,  see  what  j^ou  can  do  v.ith  that,"  and 
the  artl-t  began  to  paint  upon  it  the  face  of 
Jesus.  The  picture  that  he  painted  afterward 
became  one  of  the  famous  paintings  of  the 
IMaster's  face.  He  labored  on  it  faithfully  and 
when  it  was  finished  he  shoAved  it  to  the  man 
and  when  ho  looked  upon  its  marvelous  sweet- 
ness it  touched  his  heart  and  the  tears  flowed 
unbidden  down.  And  as  I  recall  the  story  the 
thought  comes  to  me,  if  a  poor  artist  could 
take  an  old  soiled  rag  and  so  make  it  glow  with 
the  loveliness  of  Jesus  that  a  careless,  indiffer- 
ent man  could  be  touched  into  tears  as  he 
117 


Ube  C^rowina  (Tbrtstian 


looked  upon  it,  wliat  might  not  tlie  glorious 
Christ  do  with  my  life  if  I  would  but  allow 
Him  to  have  His  way  with  me  to  reproduce 
His  likeness  through  me. 

The  best  developments  are  always  slow. 
Oaks  do  not  grow  up  like  mushrooms  in  a 
single  night,  and  solid  godly  characters  are  not 
the  products  of  a  few  months.  It  is  a  law  in 
the  natural  world  that  the  highest  type  of  life 
develops  most  slowly,  and  as  the  spiritual  is  so 
much  higher  than  the  natural  in  man,  why 
should  we  feel  discouraged  if  the  perfect  char- 
acter is  not  produced  like  the  growth  of  an  as- 
paragus plant  or  like  the  maturity  of  a  monad 
in  the  lower  world.  We  must  not  forget  that 
law  of  universal  application,  *' First  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 
So  let  us  live  on,  growing  day  by  day  "in  grace 
and  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,"  remembering 
that  when  we  have  attained  unto  the  best  pos- 
sible in  this  life,  "it  doth  not  yet  appear  what 
we  shall  be,"  but  ever  rejoicing  in  that  when 
He  shall  appear  the  likeness  shall  be  complete. 
Oh,  sweet,  transporting  thought ! 

*'I  shall  be  like  Him,  wondrously  like  Him, 
And  in  His  beauty  shall  share." 

Heaven  after  all  is  God's  sample  room  of  His 
118 


Zbc  U^pe  ot  Gtowtb 


finished  work.  Suppose  we  arc  yisiting  a  pot- 
tery, desirous  of  seeing  the  product  of  the 
establishment;  we  might  be  shown  to  the 
mixing-room  where  the  chiys  are  stirred 
together  and  on  up  to  the  molding-room  where 
the  vases  and  the  various  vessels  take  their 
shape  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  skillful 
artisan,  but  we  would  not  have  seen  what  the 
factory  could  really  do  until  we  had  followed 
its  varied  processes  clear  up  to  the  sample 
room,  where  the  finished  work  stands  in  all  its 
beauty  and  perfection.  It  is  so  with  our 
growth  in  grace,  with  our  conformity  to  the 
image  of  His  Son,  and  though  "it  doth  not 
yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  we  know  that 
when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  lilce  Him,  for 
we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is." 

Not  long  ago  in  England  a  young  man, 
blinded  in  early  youth  by  an  accident,  was 
married  to  a  beautiful  young  lady.  He  was  of 
high  social  position  and  in  spite  of  his  blind- 
ness had  won  honors  at  the  university.  He 
had  courted  and  won  his  bride  although  he 
had  never  looked  upon  her  face.  He  had 
undergone  a  course  of  treatment  that  gave  the 
surgeon  such  encouragement  as  to  make  him 
confident  of  a  favorable  outcome,  and  they  had 
119 


XTbe  (Btowtna  Cbristian 


arranged  the  final  test  for  the  hour  of  the  cere- 
mony. The  young  man,  his  eyes  still  shrouded 
in  linen,  drove  with  his  father,  Sir  William 
Hart  Dyke,  to  the  church.  Miss  Cave,  the 
bride,  came,  leaning  on  her  father's  arm.  So 
moved  was  she,  she  could  not  speak.  Was  her 
lover  at  last  to  see  her  face,  the  beautiful  face 
that  others  admired  but  which  he  had  known 
only  through  the  delicate  touch  of  his  finger 
tips?  She  neared  the  altar  as  the  soft  strains 
of  Lohengrin's  wedding  march  floated  through 
the  building,  and  there  beheld  a  strange  scene. 
Sir  William  Hart  Dyke  stood  there  with  his 
son  and  before  them  the  great  occulist  Just  in 
the  act  of  cutting  away  the  bandage.  The 
bandage  fell.  The  young  lover  stood  just  a 
moment  as  if  in  the  uncertainty  of  a  dream. 
One  step  forward — a  beam  of  rose-colored  light 
fell  into  his  face  as  it  came  shooting  through 
the  stained  window  of  the  cathedral,  but  he 
did  not  seem  to  see  it.  Did  he  see  anything? 
Yes,  before  him  was  a  face  from  which  he  could 
not  tear  his  gaze,  and  as  if  just  coming  into 
consciousness  of  where  he  was,  with  a  look  of 
joy  such  as  mortals  scarcely  ever  know,  he 
stepped  forward  to  meet  his  bride.  They 
looked  into  each  other's  eyes,  and  one  would 
120 


^bc  XIvpc  of  Ovowtb 


have  thought  his  own  would  never  have  wan- 
dered from  her  face.  "At  last?"  she  said,  still 
in  uncertainty.  "At  last,  at  last,"  he  echoed, 
solemnly.  "No  longer  through  a  glass  darkly," 
says  Paul,  "hut  face  to  face,"  for  I  shall  see 
Ilim  as  He  is,  and  when  I  see  Him  as  He  is  I 
shall  be  like  Him.  After  all  that  I  have  been 
able  to  become  here,  and  my  life  has  not  been 
altogether  without  victory,  I  have  beheld,  as  in 
a  mirror,  the  spotless  beauty  of  my  Christ,  I 
have  felt  like  crying,  "Depart  from  me,  O 
Lord,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,"  but  oh,  what  a 
promise  is  this — "Changed  into  His  own  image 
from  glory  unto  glory,"  and  when  at  last  I 
stand  in  His  presence,  fuU-statured  and  clear- 
eyed,  that  transformation  will  be  complete — a 
heart  like  His  and  a  face  like  His — and  as  I 
look  with  untrammeled  vision  into  His  eyes  I 
shall  see  reflected  back  no  longer  my  own 
deformity  and  imperfection,  but  I  shall  see  an 
image  like  Him — for  when  I  see  Him  as  He  is  I 
shall  be  like  Him, 


PRINTED    IN    THE    UNITED   STATES    OF   AMERICA 


121 


STUDIES  AND  ADDRESSES 


miLIAM  P.  MERRILL,   P.P. 

Pastor  of  Brick  Presbyterian  Church,  Nev  York 

The  Common  Creed  of  Christians 

Studies  of  the  Apostles'  Creed.    i2mo. 

The  studies  take  th»  Creed  as  a  recognized  part  of  the 
■worship  and  belief  of  the  Christian  Church  and  set  forth 
some  of  its  practical  implications,  and  make  clear  what 
sort  of  lives  can  be  lived  when  the  articles  of  the  Creed 
are  actually  acted  on,  instead  of  being  merely  professed. 

EPmN  LINCOLN  HOUSE,  P.P. 

The  Glory  of  Going  On 

and  Other  Life  Studies.    i2mo. 

These  addresses  have  even  a  hisrher  value  than  their 
literary  quality.  They  voice  genuine  counsel  and  en- 
heartenment,  based  on^  the  sound  and  sure  foundation  that 
life's  true  greatness  is  never  attained  except  by  a  con* 
formity  with  the  \fi\\  and  purposes  of  God. 

JOHN  EDJVARP  BUSHNELL,  P.P. 

Summit  Views  and  Other  Sermons 

i2mo. 

Ralph  Connor  says:  "The  author  seems  really  to  have 
caught  that  subtle,  tender,  comforting  yet  searching  spirit 
that  breathes  through  the  immortal  words  of  the  divine 
Master.     E^very  sermon  will  be  found  stimulating." 

/.  fr.  PORTER,  P.P.        Edttor  "  Westerrt  Recorder^' 

Evangelistic  Sermons 

i2mo. 

The  sermons  are  distinctly  along  the  old  lines  of  evan- 
gelistic preaching.  Repentance,  faith,  regeneration,  Judg- 
ment, Heaven,  and  Hell  are  given  their  old-time  place  in 
these  striking  sermons.  Will  undoubtedly  prove  a  valu- 
able addition  to  the  evangelistic  literature  of  our  times. 

HERBERT  BOOTH  SMITH,  P.P. 

Pastor  Jmmanuel  Presbyterian  Church.  Los  Angelas,  Cat, 

The  New  Earth  and  Other  Sermons 

i2mo. 

Thoroughly  devout,  believing  fervently  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  Dr.  Smith  pleads 
logically  and  earnestly  for  a  new  spirit  of  consecration 
and  devotion  commensurate  with  the  problems  of  the  hoiuv 


PRAYER  AND  EVANGELISM 


JOHN  HENRY  JOWETT,   P.P. 

"Come  Ye  Apart" 

Daily  Exercises  in  Prayer 
and    Devotion.      i2mo. 


"Once  again  is  it  pocsible  to 
see  the  richness  of  Dr.  Jowett'a 
thoughts  and  distillations  of 
spirituail  truths,  that  sparkle 
from  his  rare  gifts  and  literally 
to  pack  overmuch  into  very  few 
words  some  great  eternal  fact." 
—Chrisiian  Work. 


WILLIAM  E.  BIEPERWOLF,  P.P. 

Lectures  Delivered  at  Princeton  Tkeological  Seminary 

Evangelism : 

Its  Justification,  Its  Operation  and  Its  Value. 
i2mo,  cloth. 

Dr.  Biederwolf's  calm,  measured  presentation  of  the 
methods  best  calculated  to  secure  results  which  can  be 
permanently  conserved  is  especially  welcome  to-day. 
Among  the  phases  discussed  are:  The  Philosophy  of 
Revival;  The  Preacher  and  His  Message;  Pastoral 
Evangelism;  The  Union  Evangelistic  Campaign;  In- 
dividual Evangelism,  etc.,  etc, 

EPWARP  M.  BOUNPS 

Purpose  in  Prayer 

i2mo. 

"The  author  of  this  helpful  volume,  an  American,  has 
attained  a  great  vogue  in  Great  Britain  as  a  writer  of 
devotional  work  of  an  unusually  high  order.  Bounds 
understands  prayer  because  he  practiced  it  and  gave  it 
paramount  place  in  his  daily  life.  He  pleads  with  pas- 
sionate earnestness  for  the  enthronement  of  prayer  in  the 
heart  and  life  of  the  Christian  believer, 

A.  B.  SIMPSON,  P.P. 

Songs  of  the  Spirit 

With  frontispiece.     i2mo,  cloth. 

Dr.  Simpson,  founder  of  the  Christian  and  Missionary 
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graceful  gift  of  devotional  song.  During  his  long  ministry 
he  wrote  hundreds  of  pieces,  many  of  which  were  hymns 
which  have  beevi  set  to  music  and  are  here  published  for 
the  first  time. 


CHRIST'S  LIFE  AND  INFLUENCE 


J.  PEOPLE'S 
LIFE  OF 
CHRIST 


J    PA-reRSOfi-SMTTM.  DJ). 


/.  PATERSON-SMITH 

A  People's  Life  of 

Christ 

r2mo,  net  $3.50 

A  life  of  Chrii,r  which  the 
average  person  will  read  for  the 
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This  new  story  of  His  earthly- 
life  ranks  with  the  author's  best 
efforts.  It  leaves  in  every  read- 
er's mind  a  clean,  consecutive, 
unbroken  view  of  the  life  of 
Jesus,  with  all  the  main  inci- 
dents and  teachings  in  the  right 
places.  _A  book  for  which  we've 
long  waited. 

JOHN  R.   COATES 

The  Christ  of  Revolution 

i2mo,  net  $1.00. 

This  book  shows  Jesus  as  the  author  of  the  revolution 
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ognized as  the  power  of  God  Himself.  It  is  imperative 
to  see  what  was  in  His  mind.  Here  i?  the  Gospel,  to 
neglect  which  is  suicide. 

BERNARD  WASHINGTON  SPILMAN 

Field  Secretary,  Baptist  Sunday  School  Board, 
Southern  Baptist  ConvtntioH 

A  Study  in  Religious  Pedagogy 

Our  Lord's  Interview  with  the  Woman  of 
Samaria.    i2mo,  art  board,  net  75c. 

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7.  GREGORY  MANTLE,  P.P. 

The  Counterfeit  Christ 

Old  Truths  and  the  Problems  of  the  Hour. 
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LIFE  AFTER  DEATH 


/.   M.   HALDEMAN 

Can  the  Dead  Communicate  with 
the  Living?  i2mo. 

Needless  to  say.  Dr.  Haldeman  holds  no  brief  for  Spir- 
itism. On  the  contrary,  he  strongly  condemns  its  cultiva- 
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the  peril  of  "spiritualism"  among  Christians. 


Quiet  TaJks  About 
Life  After  Death 

Br  S.  D.  CORDOW 


C-I  >.»«  b^e.  ih>3M.  urtrnltdL  •>- 

ipind  10  pny  without  ceuing.  TV  uthor 
ha*  pUccd  in  «  new  MtbDC  (uBiTiai  tnrtht 


aEKINC  K  RTt'UJ.  f  JMPANlf. 


.S*.  D.  GORDON 

Quiet  Talks  About 
Life  After  Death 

i2mo,  cloth. 

A  new  volume  of  "Quiet 
Talks"  on  a  subject  of  more 
than  usual  interest  to  every  one 
to-day.  S.  D.  Gordon  has  some- 
thing to  say,  well  worth  thought- 
ful consideration.  ^  "One  cannot 
describe  these  'quiet  talks,'  they 
must  be  read  to  be  thoroughly  ap- 
preciated."— Christian   Observer. 

TAMES  M,  GRAY,  P.P. 

Spiritism  and  the  Fallen  Angels 

From  a  Biblical  Viewpoint.     i2mo. 

Bep-inning  with  a  review  of  the  present-day  revival  of 
Spiritism  and  how  to  meet  it,  Dr.  Gray  harks  back  to 
origins,  the  baleful  influence  of  the  cult  from  the  earliest 
recorded  history  of  the  human  race. 

FRANCIS  K.  BAXTER 

Does  Telepathy  Explain  Spiritualism? 

i2mo. 

By  a  goodly  array  of  argument  Mr,  Baxter  essays  to 
show  that  all  phenomena  connected  with  Spiritualism  or 
Spiritism,  can  be  accounted  for  in  certain  conditions  of 
the  subjective  and  subconscious  human  mind. 

COULSON  KERNAHAN     Author  of"  God  and  the  Am^* 

Spiritualism 

A  Personal  Experience  and  a  Warning.  l2mo, 
paper  boards. 

"'Can  anyone,'  the  author  asks,  'who  accepts  Christ  go 
with  easy  conscience  to  Spiritualism  to  tell  him  the  mys- 
teries upon  which  the  lips  of  our  Lord  and  I^azerus  are 
sealed?'  " — Baltimore  Southern  Methodist. 


Date  Due 

Mv  l-?  V- 

F  ,2 1  '40 

.f  16  ill 

, 

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